tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11240636345696511912018-12-18T12:21:35.099-08:00 The Dentrix Office Manager BlogThe Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.comBlogger331125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-47104980724857753012018-12-12T07:39:00.001-08:002018-12-12T07:45:25.690-08:00Understanding Unfilled Hours on your Practice Advisor ReportIf you have ever had the opportunity to study the Practice Advisor Report in Dentrix before, you know that it is a very powerful tool. There is so much information available in this one report—information like:<br /><ul><li>Unfilled hours for the dentist and hygienist(s)</li><li>Production totals for the entire practice, production totals based on position in the practice (dentist or hygienist), and production totals by each provider.</li><li>Numbers of treatment cases presented vs. treatment cases accepted so that you can track your overall case acceptance percentages.&nbsp;</li><li>Collection information, broken down by provider and accounts receivable information.&nbsp;</li><li>New patient information, including referral sources.&nbsp;</li><li>Broken appointment information, including lost revenue from broken appointments and number of broken appointments not reappointed.&nbsp;</li></ul>Over the next few weeks we will talk about some things you can do to ensure your Practice Advisor Report is showing you accurate information. Because the report will only be as accurate as the data you have entered into Dentrix.<br /><div><div><br /></div><div>One of the items listed in the Practice Advisor is Unfilled Hours. Unfilled hours are open time on your schedule. Unfilled hours can cause the practice to lose money because there is not a patient in the chair generating revenue, and the practice is paying overhead expenses as well as the hourly salary for the hygienist or assistant to work. This makes me think of the old saying “Time is money,” which in a dental office is very true.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o9i1kQ59ZWo/XBEoCNw0t4I/AAAAAAAACJE/4RwBySMjqiUh_QZ52N5kqrt2_PsJY38gQCLcBGAs/s1600/Unfilled%2BHorus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="1010" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o9i1kQ59ZWo/XBEoCNw0t4I/AAAAAAAACJE/4RwBySMjqiUh_QZ52N5kqrt2_PsJY38gQCLcBGAs/s640/Unfilled%2BHorus.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>In order for the unfilled hours to be accurately reflected in the report, you must have each provider’s working days and hours set up properly in Dentrix. In the Appointment Book, select <b>Setup &gt; Provider Setup</b>. Choose a provider ID, then click <b>Setup</b>. Set the hours for each day that the provider works. Having each provider’s hours properly set up is necessary for the Practice Advisor to calculate unfilled hours correctly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfilled hours are broken down on the Practice Advisor Report by dentist totals and hygiene totals, as well as by individual provider ID numbers. The Practice Advisor also gives a value to those unfilled hours which would be lost potential revenue because there was not a patient on the schedule.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>This can be very valuable information. After reviewing the information, ask yourself, why are the hours unfilled? In my experience, this often happens because the office hasn’t been making a routine effort to reach out to patients and get them scheduled (or rescheduled) for appointments.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What Can You Do To Reclaim those Unfilled Hours?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>You can reduce your unfilled hours for hygiene patients by working on your <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2015/09/understanding-continuing-care-module.html" target="_blank">Continuing Care List</a> regularly. Send e-mails and texts to patients who are due for continuing care through <a href="https://www.dentrix.com/products/eservices/ecentral/communication-manager" target="_blank">Communication Manager</a> in eCentral. If patients don’t respond, follow up with a phone call.</div><div><br /></div><div>To reduce doctor unfilled hours, you should work on your unscheduled treatment plans regularly. The <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2017/03/finding-specific-groups-of-patients-in.html" target="_blank">Treatment Manager</a> is great tool to use to contact patients with unscheduled treatment plans. Call the patients and explain their treatment and why it is important. Be ready to present them with payment options like CareCredit to make the financial aspect of their treatment easier to accept.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I find that many times when an office is busy, these lists aren’t worked as frequently. Set time aside every week for a team member to work on these lists to keep a consistently full schedule.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The Dentrix Practice Advisor provides a great deal of valuable information which can be a powerful tool in evaluating the overall health of your practice. Join me next week and we’ll talk more about another aspect of the&nbsp; Practice Advisor Report that can help you identify areas of you can focus on for better profitability.</div><br /><div>If you have any questions on this topic, please e-mail me at&nbsp;<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></div></div><o:p></o:p> <br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs,&nbsp;</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;">Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span> The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-26243311434468782182018-12-05T07:32:00.000-08:002018-12-05T13:19:10.479-08:00A First-of-the-Year Task To Put On Your ScheduleOver the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about tasks to be done at the end of the year. This week let’s talk about a task that is very important to perform on January 1st (or the 2nd if the office will be closed for New Years’ Day).<br /><br />Resetting patients’ insurance benefits in Dentrix allows the software to accurately calculate patient and insurance portions. This is also important so that treatment plans and balances due are calculated properly. At the beginning of the year, it’s important that Dentrix calculates the patient’s deductible into their patient portion and that it recognizes a patient has their entire insurance maximum available. This can be a valuable tool in presenting treatment plans to patients. They may be more likely to accept a treatment plan knowing that their dental insurance will pay a portion of the cost.<br /><br />In order for the insurance benefits to calculate correctly in Dentrix, you must first make sure that you are assigning the benefit renewal month to insurance plans. In the patient’s Family File, double-click the&nbsp;<b>Primary Dental Insurance</b>&nbsp;block. Click the&nbsp;<b>Insurance Data</b>&nbsp;button and assign the benefit renewal month using the drop-down menu.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M8QbDyXSfSo/W_3aMhQQkjI/AAAAAAAACIM/IGOru0taux4pdfxPRvbGA_ChV0z7cFCAwCLcBGAs/s1600/Insurance%2BData.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="642" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M8QbDyXSfSo/W_3aMhQQkjI/AAAAAAAACIM/IGOru0taux4pdfxPRvbGA_ChV0z7cFCAwCLcBGAs/s400/Insurance%2BData.png" width="370" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Assign the month that the patient’s insurance maximum and deductible renew. Many times, this will be January, but there are some plans that renew at the beginning of another month.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that you have the renewal month assigned to the insurance plan, you can reset insurance benefits for those plans. &nbsp;The process of resetting patient’s insurance benefits happens as a part of the Month End routine in Dentrix.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are using Dentrix version G6.5 or newer, you will use the Month End Task Scheduler which is located in the Ledger. The Task Scheduler has taken all the tasks that were performed as a part of Month End and Month End Wizard and has allowed you to determine which tasks are preformed and when. My favorite part of the Task Scheduler is that you do not have to close all your computers out of Dentrix for the Task Scheduler to run. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Resetting Insurance benefits is under the <b>Purge and Reset Category</b> within the Task Scheduler. I recommend that you run this on the first day of each month in order to accurately calculate patient’s insurance benefits. Resetting Insurance Benefits can be run manually at any time by right-clicking on <b>Reset Insurance Benefits</b> from the list of Available Tasks, then selecting <b>Run Now</b>. You can also add this task to your Monthly Queue and it will run automatically based on the parameters you set.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t4DwsfAxIRs/XAVevudqzHI/AAAAAAAACIs/NwdQqI6PhBEksFgBQGDduWeNC0JWNhnyACLcBGAs/s1600/Task%2BScheduler.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="786" height="297" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t4DwsfAxIRs/XAVevudqzHI/AAAAAAAACIs/NwdQqI6PhBEksFgBQGDduWeNC0JWNhnyACLcBGAs/s400/Task%2BScheduler.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Updating patient’s insurance benefits is very important so that you can properly estimate patient’s insurance benefits and patient out-of-pocket expense. By resetting insurance benefits, you will reset the patient’s insurance maximum and deductible amounts in Dentrix. This is an especially important task on January 1<sup>st</sup> because many plans renew as of that date.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keep your patient’s insurance information up to date and current in Dentrix by resetting patient’s insurance benefits. Doing this will help you to provide accurate treatment plans and account information.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: red;">Special Note from Henry Schein One:</span></b>&nbsp;</span></span><b>Dentrix has released an update that addresses issues that are impacting some customers in two areas: (1) resetting insurance benefits and (2) running month end and task scheduler.&nbsp; The update is available to you now in the Dentrix Update Manager. Even if you have not experienced these issues, we ask that you complete this high-priority update at your earliest convenience (no later than December 28, 2018).&nbsp; Please note that running the update will require that all users exit Dentrix.</b></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For questions on this or another topic, please e-mail me at&nbsp;<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span><o:p></o:p></div><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs,&nbsp;</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;">Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-3231150086318660872018-11-20T15:33:00.000-08:002018-11-20T15:33:07.674-08:00End-of-Year Tasks: Part Two<a href="https://thedentrixofficemanager.blogspot.com/2018/11/end-of-year-tasks-part-one.html" style="font-family: inherit;">Last week</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> we talked about making the task of updating fee schedules a part of your annual routine. This week I’d like to talk about another task I make a part of my annual routine. I think it’s important to schedule patients to have their permanent crowns cemented before the end of the year. The reason is that more insurance companies are paying for crowns based on the seat date.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp; </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you wait until January to cement a permanent crown, the insurance company will pay towards the patient’s 2019 benefits, therefore the patient may lose any benefits they had left for 2018. It’s a good idea to contact patients who aren’t scheduled for their appointment to cement their permanent crown and get them into the office before their insurance renews on January 1</span><sup style="font-family: inherit;">st</sup><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a couple of different ways you can identify which patients need to have their permanent crowns cemented:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span class="Heading2Char"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><u><b>Using the Lab Case Manager</b></u></span></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have been entering cases into the Dentrix Lab Case Manager and changing the case status, you can use the Lab Case Manager and view patients with received cases. (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lab Case Manager &gt; View &gt; Misc. Options</b>. Check the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Received Cases</b> box, and select <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OK.</b>) For more information on the Lab Case Manager and updating the case status, read my <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://thedentrixofficemanager.blogspot.com/2018/10/tracking-lab-cases-how-i-divide-up-tasks.html">blog post from October</a></span>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><u><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><!--[endif]--></u></b><span class="Heading2Char"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b><u><o:p></o:p></u></b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Heading2Char"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Using a Custom List</u></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you treatment plan a procedure code for a crown cement, you could also locate patients using Letters &amp; Custom Lists. I’m a big fan of Letters &amp; Custom Lists in Dentrix because it allows me to obtain lists of patients based on a number of different filters. I like the way that I can use the filters to find exactly the group of patients I’m looking for. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To find a list of patients with a treatment planned procedure for a crown cement open the Office Manager. From the toolbar select <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Letters &amp; Custom Lists &gt; Misc. &gt; Patient report (by filters)</b>. Then select the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Edit</b> button. In the Letter or Custom List Setup screen, it’s important that all the filters used previously are cleared before you begin.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3zTGFos-uts/W_RrHIV2MLI/AAAAAAAACHs/dNwtyTWf5Dc1jPNhDXqbGJLYKZ-YP2aaQCLcBGAs/s1600/Letter%2BSetup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="961" height="363" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3zTGFos-uts/W_RrHIV2MLI/AAAAAAAACHs/dNwtyTWf5Dc1jPNhDXqbGJLYKZ-YP2aaQCLcBGAs/s640/Letter%2BSetup.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Otherwise Dentrix will use those filters and your list of patients will not be accurate. To find patients with a treatment-planned cement crown procedure code, select the <b>&gt;&gt;</b> next to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Procedures</b> filter. In the <b>Search For</b>box, check the box for <b>Treat. Plan</b>. Next choose the beginning and ending procedure codes.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tq6Cx6aFQZs/W_RqVyDz3yI/AAAAAAAACHg/REeDsJj9ru8iVlq3DHWN2XlqBJCno2QpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2BRange.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="314" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tq6Cx6aFQZs/W_RqVyDz3yI/AAAAAAAACHg/REeDsJj9ru8iVlq3DHWN2XlqBJCno2QpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2BRange.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, if the procedure code your office uses for the cement crown is D2999, choose the beginning procedure code D2999 and ending procedure code D2999. You can choose to enter a procedure date range if needed, but it’s not necessary for this scenario. Select <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OK</b> to save those filters, and then <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OK</b> again to close the setup screen. Now select <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Open List Manager</b>. This gives you a list of patients who have a treatment-planned cement crown procedure. You can access the patient’s other Dentrix modules from the List Manager, so it’s easy to navigate to the patient’s Family File, Ledger, Chart and Office Journal.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-feZlUCriezs/W_Rr5AoqPAI/AAAAAAAACH0/pAG8NULbfRwZTMOyurUPKcmmkZrWok5FQCLcBGAs/s1600/List%2BManager.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="805" height="310" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-feZlUCriezs/W_Rr5AoqPAI/AAAAAAAACH0/pAG8NULbfRwZTMOyurUPKcmmkZrWok5FQCLcBGAs/s400/List%2BManager.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By scheduling patients to come in for an appointment to cement their permanent crowns before January 1, you can help them to better maximize their insurance benefits. If their insurance plan pays based on the seat date, the crown will be paid based on the patient’s 2018 insurance benefits and the patients 2019 insurance benefits will not be affected. Even if the patient’s insurance company doesn’t pay on the seat date, it can still be very important to schedule the patient to cement their permanent crowns before the holidays. The holidays tend to be the time that we eat more delicious, chewy, sticky foods that can pull off a temporary crown, so it’s beneficial for all patients to have their permanent crowns cemented before the holidays and January 1<sup>st</sup>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For questions on this or another topic, please e-mail me at <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com</a></span>, and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! </span><o:p></o:p></div><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-91377336194895601242018-11-14T07:00:00.000-08:002018-11-14T07:35:04.055-08:00End-of-Year Tasks: Part One<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s the most wonderful time of the year……to prepare for next year!&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the end of the year rapidly approaches, there are important tasks that need to be done at your office to prepare for 2019. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about some of these tasks to get your office ready for the new year.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s start by talking about office fee schedules. It’s important to review your office fees on an annual basis. You can evaluate and compare your office fees to others in your area by using a guide like the <a href="https://wasserman-medical.com/shop/product/national-dental-advisory-service-2019-fee-report-book/" target="_blank">National Dental Advisory Service Fee Report Boo</a>k. This can help you to see how your office fees compare to other dental offices in your zip code and if you should consider raising your fees. Raising your office fees can improve the revenue for the practice, but you also don’t want to price yourself out of the market.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><b>Updating the Office Fee Schedule</b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once you have made a decision about how you want to update your office fee schedule, you can choose to increase your fee schedule by a percentage or by a dollar amount using the Auto Changes button in Dentrix. Open the Office Manager and select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Fee schedule Setup. Select the fee schedule you want to change, then click Auto Changes.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wfD7q8plrHU/W-tP61FFFYI/AAAAAAAACG4/HtnlWyVVPI80prz-0aYvIdXj4076uG7uQCLcBGAs/s1600/Auto%2BChanges.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="344" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wfD7q8plrHU/W-tP61FFFYI/AAAAAAAACG4/HtnlWyVVPI80prz-0aYvIdXj4076uG7uQCLcBGAs/s400/Auto%2BChanges.png" width="347" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can choose to update all procedure codes, or you can enter a procedure code range. From this screen you also have the ability to increase (or decrease) fees by a percentage or a dollar amount.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4IFaUQ_2t3Y/W-tQBRXaoOI/AAAAAAAACG8/qgeERe22LOQb37EAiDGdNq_K1SmLoAaJgCLcBGAs/s1600/Increase%2BBy%2BPercent.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4IFaUQ_2t3Y/W-tQBRXaoOI/AAAAAAAACG8/qgeERe22LOQb37EAiDGdNq_K1SmLoAaJgCLcBGAs/s400/Increase%2BBy%2BPercent.png" width="375" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can also manually edit individual fees by procedure code.&nbsp; Open the Office Manager and select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Fee Schedule Setup. Choose the appropriate fee schedule, then select View/Edit. Select a procedure code from the list, make changes to the AFTER column, and then click Save.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Updating Insurance Fee Schedules</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">When you are thinking of updating fee schedules, it’s also important to request an updated fee schedule from all insurance companies your office participates with.&nbsp; Depending on the insurance company, you may have to call or e-mail the provider relations department or you may have to send a written request. Once you have received the updated fee schedules from the insurance company, you can edit your fee schedules in Dentrix to reflect the insurance fees.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Open the Office Manager, and select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Fee Schedule Setup. Choose an insurance fee schedule, then select View/Edit.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZnp6Lav1Fs/W-tPyzCjUrI/AAAAAAAACGw/WwoI9W97crQNNAnl7bqWuTaI_Qy9C37HwCLcBGAs/s1600/Ins%2BFee%2BSchedule%2BUpdate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="344" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZnp6Lav1Fs/W-tPyzCjUrI/AAAAAAAACGw/WwoI9W97crQNNAnl7bqWuTaI_Qy9C37HwCLcBGAs/s400/Ins%2BFee%2BSchedule%2BUpdate.png" width="347" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Select the code you want to edit from the list of procedure codes. For example, if you wanted to update the fee for an adult prophylaxis, select D1110 and click in the AFTER field and enter the updated fee (in dollars). You can move on to the next procedure code to update, or if you’re done, choose Save, then Close.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5rNPcasWngs/W-tP24mCrcI/AAAAAAAACG0/azy1n9xZyMcCyzJhkXWYeVguyNVZvO2xwCLcBGAs/s1600/Change%2BFee.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="428" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5rNPcasWngs/W-tP24mCrcI/AAAAAAAACG0/azy1n9xZyMcCyzJhkXWYeVguyNVZvO2xwCLcBGAs/s400/Change%2BFee.png" width="381" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One thing to keep in mind when you update or edit a fee schedule, is that when you enter or create a new treatment plan for a patient, the updated fees will be reflected. Patients who have an existing treatment plan will not reflect the updated fees.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking the time to update your office fees and requesting information from your insurance carriers so you can update your insurance fee schedules, will result in higher production and collections for the office. I find that making this a part of my end of year routine ensures that it gets done consistently on an annual basis.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Join me next week when we’ll discuss more end-of-year tasks.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have questions about this or other topics, please e-mail&nbsp;me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-70443380089053128072018-11-07T07:00:00.000-08:002018-11-07T07:00:06.809-08:00Over the Counter Collections<span style="font-family: inherit;">Collecting payment from patients at the time of service is very important. Many procedures we do in the office incur a lab fee and expensive materials and so it’s important for your office to cover its cost. How do you track if you’re collecting at the time of service?</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Payment a patient makes for services rendered that day are considered to be over the counter collections. A good goal for your office is for over the counter collections to be 35-45% of your monthly production.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To differentiate over the counter collections verses other payments, you can set up additional payment types in Dentrix. For example, you probably already have cash payment, check payment, and credit card payment set up in Dentrix. But did you know you can also add OCC (over the counter collections) cash payment, OCC check payment, and OCC credit card payment as options, too?</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To add payment types, open the Office Manager, and select <b>Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Definitions</b>. Select <b>Payment Type</b> in the <b>Definition Type</b> drop-down list. Type the name of your new payment type (for example OCC Cash) in the <b>Definition Text</b> field, and then click <b>Add</b>.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kx1DdgC4hzE/W-Bu7S_KhVI/AAAAAAAACFY/qJAXjvwq0uQ2ec-ZrUC7gz90nvWqdt3nQCLcBGAs/s1600/OCC%2BPayment%2BType.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="437" height="211" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kx1DdgC4hzE/W-Bu7S_KhVI/AAAAAAAACFY/qJAXjvwq0uQ2ec-ZrUC7gz90nvWqdt3nQCLcBGAs/s400/OCC%2BPayment%2BType.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Repeat these steps for the other over the counter payment types you want to add. Then train the staff who enter patient payments to use these new OCC payment types when a patient is paying for a procedure done that day.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once you have the OCC payment types set up, you will be able to differentiate them from other payments on your daily and monthly reports.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The over the counter collections should be monitored monthly. At the end of each month, run a report to show collections based on payment type. A good report for this would be the Payment Summary Report in the Practice Analysis. In the Office Manager select <b>Analysis &gt; Practice</b>, and then select <b>Reports </b>when the window opens. Set the desired <b>Date Range</b> and check the <b>Payment Summary</b> option.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dixsiPjXWiY/W-BvPMLn1AI/AAAAAAAACFg/3gW2Ut7ETbEADzE-_EmfvFSztW28rUy1gCLcBGAs/s1600/Payment%2BSummary.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="512" height="375" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dixsiPjXWiY/W-BvPMLn1AI/AAAAAAAACFg/3gW2Ut7ETbEADzE-_EmfvFSztW28rUy1gCLcBGAs/s400/Payment%2BSummary.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This report will give you all the payments, separated by payment type, for the selected date range. Now you can total all the over the counter collections payment types and divide this by the monthly production. This will give you the percentage of the over the counter collections.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">By generating this report on a monthly basis, you have a good gauge of whether you are collecting enough from patients in the office at the time of service. Remember, a good goal is to have 35-45% of your monthly production should be from over the counter collections.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you aren’t reaching this goal, you may want to examine why:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are patients being presented with a treatment plan prior to the appointment date so that they can be financially prepared?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is someone on the team uncomfortable asking a patient for money and therefore not collecting?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have patients been properly informed about the office policy regarding paying at the time of service?</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Addressing any issues in this area can help to improve your cash flow and your bottom line.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can also view over the counter collections in the Practice Advisor Report. You are able to designate which payment types this report considers over the counter collections. In the Office Manager, select <b>Analysis &gt; Practice Advisor</b>. Choose <b>Practice Advisor Setup</b> then <b>Assign Payment Types as Over-the-Counter Collections</b>. Move the payment type(s) you have set up as OCC into the right pane using the arrow buttons, and click <b>OK </b>to save.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZVGLIIIzhk/W-Bv4kFelnI/AAAAAAAACFo/1U8yX90LEgcaPN_5rAUMf-ozOSZAAw9NACLcBGAs/s1600/OCC%2BCollections%2BType.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="551" height="316" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VZVGLIIIzhk/W-Bv4kFelnI/AAAAAAAACFo/1U8yX90LEgcaPN_5rAUMf-ozOSZAAw9NACLcBGAs/s400/OCC%2BCollections%2BType.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Collecting from patients at time of service helps to maintain healthy accounts receivable. It also helps the office to cover overhead and costs such as lab fees and materials.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is your office collecting enough at the time of service? Try using the reports I described to find out.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have questions about this or other topics, please e-mail&nbsp;me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-81631715301734929732018-10-31T07:57:00.000-07:002018-10-31T07:57:53.871-07:00Keeping Track of Patient Insurance InformationA patient’s dental insurance is ultimately their responsibility. However, we at the dental office often assume some of the responsibility of keeping up with the patient’s insurance because it benefits us in the long run. If you are able to accurately estimate what an insurance plan will pay, you can collect the patient portion at the time of service, avoid future payment problems, and consequently maintain a healthy accounts receivable.<br /><br />As an office manager, I try to keep up to date with a patient’s insurance benefits, such as frequency limitations and any special coverage clauses. This is important because it goes a long way in helping the patient avoid an unexpected balance.<br /><br />Take this situation, where knowing a patient’s benefits would be important, for example:<br /><br />A patient has a bridge placed, but there was a missing tooth exclusion in their insurance coverage, their insurance denies the claim, and they end up with a large unexpected balance. This is not only upsetting for the patient, but it can be costly for your office as well. This balance may remain unpaid for a long time, or the patient may need to make payments on the procedure, which affects the office accounts receivable and accounts aging.<br /><br />Insurance plan exclusions and frequency limitations should be documented in the Insurance Plan Note. You can enter this information in a patient’s coverage table. In the Family File, double-click the Insurance block, and then click the Coverage Table button.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVFz-JEjqK4/W9nArVQ10kI/AAAAAAAACEs/aJomKCzJQN4G-tuToBusEkLcRIoSSEJ_QCLcBGAs/s1600/Cov%2BTable%2Bbutton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="475" height="375" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVFz-JEjqK4/W9nArVQ10kI/AAAAAAAACEs/aJomKCzJQN4G-tuToBusEkLcRIoSSEJ_QCLcBGAs/s400/Cov%2BTable%2Bbutton.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />In the Coverage Table window, click the Notes button to access the Insurance Plan Note.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wbj3CMoUwHs/W9nBB8Lpl9I/AAAAAAAACE0/fA-DZB97vJQZ_0cB5xDcm3rp4jim8QvQwCLcBGAs/s1600/Notes%2Bbutton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="512" height="347" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wbj3CMoUwHs/W9nBB8Lpl9I/AAAAAAAACE0/fA-DZB97vJQZ_0cB5xDcm3rp4jim8QvQwCLcBGAs/s400/Notes%2Bbutton.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Enter any information you have from the insurance carrier about plan limitations and exclusions. These should be notes that are specific to the carrier and not individual patients. These notes will display for all patients covered by the plan, and won’t print on insurance claims.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0hiqeuEOLKw/W9nBj5EfLNI/AAAAAAAACE8/-0ETrw4fmx0l265xc0TmECVsZ6gT_KRhACLcBGAs/s1600/Ins%2BPlan%2Bnote.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="371" height="243" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0hiqeuEOLKw/W9nBj5EfLNI/AAAAAAAACE8/-0ETrw4fmx0l265xc0TmECVsZ6gT_KRhACLcBGAs/s400/Ins%2BPlan%2Bnote.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Similarly, it’s important for your office to keep up with how much of a patient’s maximum benefits they have used to avoid an unexpected balance. Now is the time of year when many patients have met their insurance plan maximum. Dentrix tracks how much an insurance plan has paid for a patient in your office, but what about insurance payments to another office?<br /><br />For example, a patient could have used some (or all) of their benefits at a specialist office, or they could be a new patient to your office, but have previously used some of their dental insurance maximum at a previous dentist.<br /><br />In a patient’s Family File, double-click the Insurance Block and click the Deductibles button.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b-LDwDY0IUU/W9nB2__NTxI/AAAAAAAACFE/3cPCypONLcAvcauCYyjZX6LoZ9DzTHntACLcBGAs/s1600/Deductibles%2Bbutton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="475" height="375" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b-LDwDY0IUU/W9nB2__NTxI/AAAAAAAACFE/3cPCypONLcAvcauCYyjZX6LoZ9DzTHntACLcBGAs/s400/Deductibles%2Bbutton.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />&nbsp;Enter any benefits used or deductible that may have been met outside of your office.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4pK6PyHbE4/W9nCdJDBR1I/AAAAAAAACFM/X6kKFIdZ2MoK5EcFATpZmHEf3Qgd5lGTQCLcBGAs/s1600/Deductible%2Bmet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="373" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4pK6PyHbE4/W9nCdJDBR1I/AAAAAAAACFM/X6kKFIdZ2MoK5EcFATpZmHEf3Qgd5lGTQCLcBGAs/s400/Deductible%2Bmet.png" width="355" /></a></div><br /><br />I find that keeping the deductibles met and benefits used for a patient updated is especially helpful in a case where you have referred a patient for a root canal. I know the patient will have used most of their insurance benefits at the endodontist office for this procedure. It’s important for that to be reflected when I print the patient’s treatment plan for a crown and build up on the tooth. By going in to their Family File and adding this information, Dentrix will calculate the correct estimated patient portion for the crown procedure, because it will take into account the insurance benefits that have already been used, and there won’t be any unpleasant surprises for me or the patient.<br /><br />I find this time of year, it tends to be especially important to track how much a patient has used of their dental insurance maximum. You would need to contact the patient’s insurance company to find out how much the patient has used of their maximum outside of your office. If you use e-Services, you could use the <a href="https://www.dentrix.com/products/eservices/ecentral/insurance-manager/features" target="_blank">Dentrix Insurance Manager</a> for a quick and easy response. <br /><br />If you have questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-74159384525279350802018-10-24T07:00:00.000-07:002018-10-31T07:57:24.897-07:00Tracking Lab Cases - How I Divide up TasksIf you send a patient’s case to a lab, it’s very important to have a good tracking system for those cases. It’s important for your office to know which cases have been sent and are being fabricated at the lab, which cases have been received back in the office and are ready to deliver to the patient, and which cases have been completed.<br /><br />I have found that being able to track the progress of a case is important because when properly tracked, your office can know to not schedule patients for their return appointment before their lab case is back in the office. Unfortunately, I’ve seen patients come in for their scheduled appointment and their lab case has not been returned from the lab. That’s an unpleasant situation for everyone!<br /><br />Dentrix has a Lab Case Manager which is designed to do this tracking for you. When you create a lab case for a patient, that lab case can be attached to an appointment. While it’s important to track when your lab cases have been sent or received, it’s also very important to keep up with them after you have received them back in your office. Once a case has been completed (seated in the patient’s mouth), change the case status to "Finished." This is important because the Lab Case Manager allows you to view cases by status: Sent, Received, Finished, or Archived.<br /><br />Make sure that you have a plan for who in the office will change the status of a patient’s case to ensure accuracy in your tracking system. I like to use the “Received” status list view in the Lab Case Manager to find patients that we have a received lab case for, but who aren’t yet scheduled for an appointment. I can use this as a tool to call and get them scheduled.<br /><br />Here’s an example of how I’ve seen the Lab Case Manager tasks divided well among the team:<br /><ol><li>When a patient comes in for their initial appointment for a procedure requiring a lab case (such as a crown prep or impressions for a denture) the dental assistant creates the lab prescription using the Lab Case Manager and attaches it to the case. She prepares the case for the lab to pick up. At that point the lab case status is changed to “Sent”.</li><li>Either the dental assistant, or the front desk schedules the patient’s next appointment and attaches the lab case to the next appointment in Dentrix. This signifies to everyone in the office there is an outstanding lab case associated with this future appointment.</li><li>When the case is returned from the lab, the front desk changes the case status to “Received.” There is an option in this window to choose who the case was received by, I recommend using that option. That way if there’s a question, it’s easy to know which team member received the case.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jUY9Ptb0So/W89wjVQm8kI/AAAAAAAACEU/Jwcc_n9Lfzkah3PlQf2PanuVFUIpqE3fACLcBGAs/s1600/Receive%2Blab%2Bcase%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="601" height="333" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jUY9Ptb0So/W89wjVQm8kI/AAAAAAAACEU/Jwcc_n9Lfzkah3PlQf2PanuVFUIpqE3fACLcBGAs/s400/Receive%2Blab%2Bcase%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div></li><br /><li>When the patient comes in for their delivery appointment, the dental assistant changes the case status to finished.</li></ol><div><div>I’ve found when the team understands the process and their role in it, you can maintain a clean tracking system for your lab cases. Don’t ever hunt for a lab case again! You’ll know exactly where your cases are when using a tracking system like the Dentrix Lab Case Manager.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>For more information about customizing the Lab Case Manager for your office, see the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dentrix.com/help/mergedProjects/Lab%20Case%20Manager/desktop/Lab_Case_Setup/Setting_up_the_Lab_Case_Manager.htm" target="_blank">Setting up the Lab Case Manager</a> topic in the Dentrix Help.</div></div><br />If you have questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-21863829515105867272018-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:002018-10-17T07:44:58.819-07:00Entering Batch Insurance Payments in DentrixIt’s Monday at 5:00pm and it’s been a long day at the office. We often have a lot of mail on Mondays since the office is closed on the weekend and there are a lot of checks to post. We’ve posted all the checks, closed out the day, run a deposit slip and…oh no! We don’t balance. Many times, it’s a small amount, (I’ve been off by a penny!) but it must be corrected. It can be very irritating.<br /><br />Did you know Dentrix has a feature in the Ledger to help you post batch insurance payments? This can help you to avoid the annoying situation I just described. You enter the total amount of the check, then post to individual patient’s claims. The best part is Dentrix will not let you continue unless the amount you allocated adds up to the total amount of the check.<br /><br />Open the Dentrix Ledger. You do not have to be in a specific patient’s ledger to use this feature.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--KRVcGDczng/W8dKsCFiHZI/AAAAAAAACD8/fwaMsHFICf8oVTJmD2waZMoBTq48EZTagCLcBGAs/s1600/Batch%2BInsurance%2BPayment%2BWidnow%2Bwith%2BClaim%2BStatus%2BNote%2B%2528letters%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1022" height="474" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--KRVcGDczng/W8dKsCFiHZI/AAAAAAAACD8/fwaMsHFICf8oVTJmD2waZMoBTq48EZTagCLcBGAs/s640/Batch%2BInsurance%2BPayment%2BWidnow%2Bwith%2BClaim%2BStatus%2BNote%2B%2528letters%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />First, select File &gt; Enter Batch Ins. Payment. Dentrix will default to today’s date (a).&nbsp; Then enter the total amount of the check, the payment type, check number and bank branch (b). Select the Insurance Carrier Name and choose the group plan (c). You will see a list of patients under that group with outstanding claims (d).<br /><br />Select the desired claim to post (e) and then itemize the amount paid for each procedure (f). You have the option to update the payment table, enter necessary adjustments, and enter any deductible used (g). The claim status note is available if you need to make any notes regarding the claim (h).<br /><br />I like to use the claim status note to indicate why a procedure wasn’t paid. For example, if fluoride wasn’t paid due to an age limitation. This is a quick and easy reference if a patient receives a statement and has a question on why a certain procedure wasn’t paid by their insurance. It’s much quicker than looking for the explanation of benefits.<br /><br />Once that claim payment is complete, select Post Claim (i). Now you can move on to your next claim. Once you have posted the payment for all claims associated with the check, choose Next EOB (j). If the posted amount and the total check amount don’t match and you don’t balance, Dentrix will give you a warning that the amounts don’t match.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M61qs31rO8w/W8ZC7JHm0nI/AAAAAAAACDk/XXaZz7KZW5AZXmKuQAbIjQXfhN5CE2N0QCLcBGAs/s1600/Batch%2BIns%2Bwarning%2Bmessage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="476" height="166" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M61qs31rO8w/W8ZC7JHm0nI/AAAAAAAACDk/XXaZz7KZW5AZXmKuQAbIjQXfhN5CE2N0QCLcBGAs/s400/Batch%2BIns%2Bwarning%2Bmessage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />You can review and correct any errors while you still have the EOB in front of you.<br /><br />The batch insurance payment feature in Dentrix is a time saver and a stress saver. There’re always a million things to do at the end of the day and Dentrix making sure you balance before you run the deposit slip at the end of the day can help make your life a little easier.<br /><br />If you have questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-84920644008915033292018-10-10T07:16:00.000-07:002018-10-10T07:17:18.606-07:00Setting Expectations for Staff<span style="font-family: inherit;">Regular training is so important. We know this in the dental office. Our doctors and hygienists must take hours of continuing education bi-annually. They’re constantly learning so they can treat their patients with the upmost quality of care. The rest of us, meaning administrative staff and assistants, can also benefit greatly from regular training.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sgf5ePx9YFI/W7ZlDN4WcaI/AAAAAAAACDE/Oar4Jx8fCVYXqpyL7bR2QzdujPo9fs7ngCLcBGAs/s1600/Training%2Bimage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="982" height="167" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sgf5ePx9YFI/W7ZlDN4WcaI/AAAAAAAACDE/Oar4Jx8fCVYXqpyL7bR2QzdujPo9fs7ngCLcBGAs/s320/Training%2Bimage.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the most important members of the front office team in the schedule coordinator. It’s always a good idea to have a training plan for the schedule coordinator so that she is constantly improving her phone skills and perfecting the art of scheduling to maximize practice production.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve found that an effective way to train a schedule coordinator is to observe them as they work, listening to how they communicate with patients over the phone and in person at the check-in desk. Give them positive feedback and tips on where they can improve.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Additionally, an important part of training you schedule coordinator, for me is to letting them know what I expect.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s list of four things I expect a schedule coordinator to be able to do,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">and what I do to help them be successful</span>:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Multi-Task</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The schedule coordinator must be able to multi-task. The phone is ringing, patients are checking in and out and they must be able to effectively handle these situations. This is important to find out in the initial interview. Ask the potential team member about their multi-tasking skills. If they are a person who likes to focus on one task at a time this may not be a good position for them. Set that expectation at the initial interview.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Answer the Phone</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s easier said than done. It’s important for the schedule coordinator to be well spoken and use proper grammar. They are typically the first person a patient speaks to and they are a representative of your entire office. Again, find out if they’re the right person for the position when you initially interview them.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Schedule Appointments</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another no-brainer, right? However, scheduling appointments effectively is a lot more difficult than most would imagine. There are nuances to scheduling depending on the doctor. For example, the doctor may want more difficult high production procedures scheduled in the morning and less taxing procedures in the afternoon, so they aren’t doing difficult procedures at the end of the day when they’re tired. I recommend spending time with the schedule coordinator, helping them to understand each provider they will be scheduling for. When you're working with a new schedule coordinator, do this daily. Explain how providers would like appointments scheduled and why. Look at future days in the schedule with them and point out what looks good and what doesn’t. This will help them to learn what the office expects in the schedule. You can also use Perfect Day Scheduling in Dentrix to <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2018/02/setting-up-time-blocks-for-providers.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">create time blocks for specific providers and procedures</span></a>. This can also be helpful when scheduling.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be Able to Say No&nbsp;</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many times, patients want to dictate to the office when they want to come in. While I always want to accommodate patients, the schedule coordinator controls the flow of the day. It’s important for them to be able to guide the patient to an appointment that works well for the office, as well as for the patient. To help your schedule coordinator with this, you could create a phone script for them to refer to. When I have a schedule coordinator that struggles saying no, I sit with them and have them listen to the way I speak to patients. This can help them to learn what to say and how to say it.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">As an office manager, it’s important to give your team the tools they need to succeed. Work with your individual staff members. Let them know of your expectations, and look for opportunities to give positive feedback on the things they are doing well, and things you have noticed that could be done better.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Provide regular training opportunities. You can do mini training sessions in your morning huddle. This is a good time to talk about what they did great yesterday or what may have gone wrong. Positive reinforcement is a great training tool. When the team gets a pat on the back, they’re remember to keep doing something the right way. Taking the time to set expectations, and then setting aside time to observe and train your team can improve the patient experience in your office.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span> The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-68159794731582533722018-10-03T07:35:00.000-07:002018-10-03T07:35:41.643-07:00How I Handle CancellationsWhen patients come to the front desk following an appointment, they often will schedule their next appointment. But because that appointment can be six months or more in the future, they may at some point between now and then have the need to cancel or reschedule that appointment. Dentrix can handle appointment cancellations in different ways based on the situation. Here are two different ways to cancel or reschedule an appointment and my thoughts on when it’s appropriate to use them.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Breaking an Appointment&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b>Breaking an appointment is what I consider to be a negative cancellation--if the patient is a no-show or cancels within 24 hours of the appointment. Each time an appointment is broken, it counts as a missed appointment in the patient’s Family File. Dentrix tracks the date of the last missed appointment and keeps a running total of how many appointments the patient has missed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q_xnsAqOhK4/W7TQVltDwQI/AAAAAAAACCI/pI1CMpebYYMiH5rjuYQ30tFIy_ayG9fWQCLcBGAs/s1600/Missed%2BAppt%2BTotal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="769" height="126" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q_xnsAqOhK4/W7TQVltDwQI/AAAAAAAACCI/pI1CMpebYYMiH5rjuYQ30tFIy_ayG9fWQCLcBGAs/s400/Missed%2BAppt%2BTotal.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>When scheduling appointments for patients, the Missed Appointments number is a good reference for the office to look at because you may not want to give a patient with lots of missed appointments a prime appointment time, like late in the afternoon.<br /><br />When you break an appointment, the patient’s appointment is moved off the schedule and Dentrix places it on the Unscheduled list. You can use the Unscheduled List as a resource to fill holes in your schedule. If the patient wants to reschedule their appointment at the time they are canceling, I would still recommend breaking the appointment first, so that Dentrix tracks the missed appointment. Then schedule the patient a new appointment.<br /><br />When you attempt to schedule an appointment for a patient who already has an appointment on the Unscheduled List, Dentrix will alert you that the patient has an unscheduled appointment and ask you if you would like to view the patient’s appointment list.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9dDOqHO3cA/W7TRUTo6xaI/AAAAAAAACCQ/eZsK9rcBiBUlufuxHO_CZsmAq03YhKCfwCLcBGAs/s1600/Appt%2Bon%2BUnsched%2BList%2Bwarning.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="405" height="157" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9dDOqHO3cA/W7TRUTo6xaI/AAAAAAAACCQ/eZsK9rcBiBUlufuxHO_CZsmAq03YhKCfwCLcBGAs/s400/Appt%2Bon%2BUnsched%2BList%2Bwarning.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It’s important to answer “Yes” to this message.&nbsp; Choosing “Yes” opens the Family Appointment List for the patient where you can view any unscheduled appointments.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DGdf6Xkw04M/W7TRfgYLBJI/AAAAAAAACCU/BzmHPVmv6ssvKe1JY3voYnpTXc5oGf6hwCLcBGAs/s1600/Family%2BAppt%2BList%2B-%2BUnsched.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="470" height="376" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DGdf6Xkw04M/W7TRfgYLBJI/AAAAAAAACCU/BzmHPVmv6ssvKe1JY3voYnpTXc5oGf6hwCLcBGAs/s400/Family%2BAppt%2BList%2B-%2BUnsched.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Choose the &lt;Unscheduled Appt&gt; from the list and click the View Appt button. The appointment information window will appear with the unscheduled procedures. Then you can choose to Pinboard the appointment and reschedule the patient.<br /><br />The reason it’s so important to answer “Yes” when Dentrix asks if you would like to view the patient’s appointment list, is because when you reschedule the appointment the way I described above, the appointment will be moved <i>off </i>the Unscheduled List. I find that many offices are just creating new appointments instead of rescheduling them through the appointment list and it results in their Unscheduled List being inaccurate. Patients continue to be on the Unscheduled List for appointments that have already been rescheduled. The Unscheduled List is not a functional tool for the office when this happens.<br /><br /><b>Wait/Will Call</b><br /><br />If a patient calls and can’t make their appointment two weeks from now, I don’t consider that to be a negative cancellation because the patient is giving the office plenty of notice. If the patient can reschedule, you could simply move their appointment to the Pinboard and find another open time for their appointment. If they are unable to reschedule at this time, use the Wait/Will Call option. Double click on the patient’s appointment, then in the appointment information window, select Wait/Will Call.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67kSMwbahW0/W7TSa2dX_nI/AAAAAAAACCk/M7GxYl_9g5IJjGMZx2zFIih6CJ7Lz9fiQCLcBGAs/s1600/Wait%2BWill%2BCall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="533" height="390" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-67kSMwbahW0/W7TSa2dX_nI/AAAAAAAACCk/M7GxYl_9g5IJjGMZx2zFIih6CJ7Lz9fiQCLcBGAs/s400/Wait%2BWill%2BCall.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This will remove the patient’s appointment from the Appointment Book and move them to the Unscheduled List. This gives you the ability to follow up with the patient to get them rescheduled. When you view the Unscheduled List, it shows whether the appointment was broken or marked as wait will call.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQY7LlqIxr4/W7TSqhcfWHI/AAAAAAAACCs/73UvtPQ-hiw7tPHgUD8wJT94QHfuteqPwCLcBGAs/s1600/Broken%2Bor%2BWillCall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="841" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQY7LlqIxr4/W7TSqhcfWHI/AAAAAAAACCs/73UvtPQ-hiw7tPHgUD8wJT94QHfuteqPwCLcBGAs/s400/Broken%2Bor%2BWillCall.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">When you are contacting patients to reschedule, I recommend contacting the Wait/Will Call patients first, since they had given you advance notice when they cancelled their appointments. Dentrix does not consider appointments marked as Wait/Will Call to be a missed appointment in the Family File, so use this feature when it’s not a negative cancellation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Try using these Dentrix features for the different types of cancellation situations you have in your office. I recommend using the Break Appointment option when patients no-show or cancel within 24 hours of their appointment. I recommend using Wait/Will Call option if the patient is unable to reschedule at this time and they have given the office at least 24 hours’ notice. If you have questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-80918809171273445782018-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:002018-09-26T07:38:34.192-07:00How to Handle Partial Insurance PaymentsInsurance companies are becoming more and more particular about the type of attachments and documentation they require to process a claim. For example, I was in an office recently that had submitted a claim for a crown with a periapical film. Typically, this type of x-ray would be adequate, but the insurance company sent an explanation of benefits back to the office stating that to process a claim for a crown, the office must submit both a periapical film and a bitewing x-ray.<br /><br />These types of situation happen daily. Sometimes, when you send an insurance claim for a crown and a crown build-up, the insurance company may pay for the crown build-up, but not the actual crown until additional information has been received. If the insurance company is paying for one procedure now and waiting on additional information before it pays for the second procedure, you should post the payment for the crown build-up when it’s received and not hold the payment until all the procedures have been considered.<br /><br />When this happens, you want to keep the crown procedure as an outstanding claim to the insurance for two reasons: 1) you can continue to track the outstanding insurance claim for the crown using the Insurance Aging Report in the Dentrix Office Manager, and 2) if you were to post the payment for the build-up and post a $0 payment to the crown, the patient’s ledger would reflect a larger patient portion of the balance than is actually due.<br /><br />Dentrix has a solution for these types of situations. When you receive a partial payment for an insurance claim, split the primary claim to post payment to the paid procedures and leave the procedure that requires more information as an outstanding claim.<br /><br />There are a couple of advantages to splitting the claim:<br /><br /><br /><ol><li>If you were to post the payment for the build-up procedure, but post to a $0 payment for the crown, the entire claim would then be closed. It will no longer appear on the Insurance Aging Report, so you lose the ability to track it and it could easily slip through the cracks. By splitting the claim, you are still able to track it.</li><li>Splitting the claim keeps the original narrative in the remarks for unusual services. You may need to refer to the narrative on the original claim if you have to appeal the claim, and by having a record of the original narrative you’ll know what you wrote and what information you may need to add if further action is required by the office.&nbsp;</li><li>The original sent date will be accurate, and any claim status notes you made on the claim will remain with the claim. I wrote a blog post in August about <a href="http://thedentrixofficemanager.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-value-in-using-insurance-claim.html" target="_blank">the value of using insurance claim status notes</a>. Once you’ve spent time tracking insurance claims and making notes, you would want to ensure those notes are saved.</li></ol><br /><div>To split a primary claim, open the patient’s Ledger. Click once on the claim you want to split so it is highlighted. Then select <b>Insurance &gt; Split Primary Claim</b>.&nbsp; Select the procedure(s) to be moved to the new claim, then click the down arrow to move it to a second claim.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fs3Zk3GpQ1k/W6ldZ-aQaQI/AAAAAAAACBw/I1P-iUmNkuc7aD1zxhT0VI9IT5AWZ2iGgCLcBGAs/s1600/Split%2BClaim.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="496" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fs3Zk3GpQ1k/W6ldZ-aQaQI/AAAAAAAACBw/I1P-iUmNkuc7aD1zxhT0VI9IT5AWZ2iGgCLcBGAs/s400/Split%2BClaim.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Once the procedures are split into individual claims, you can post payments to the claims as you normally would.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>The ability to split insurance claims is a feature that I find particularly useful that many offices aren’t aware of. Splitting claims helps to keep accurate claim tracking during times when insurance companies request additional information.&nbsp; If you have questions on this or another topic, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span> The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-56037688505982127352018-09-19T08:40:00.000-07:002018-09-19T08:40:54.072-07:00Give Your Hygienists Tools for Success<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hygienists play an important role in a practice. They can be an asset as producers for the office. As office managers, if we can give the hygienists tools to be more efficient with the software, they could have more time to spend on patient care, explaining treatment, and ultimately creating more production for the practice.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">During the patient’s appointment, there are certain tasks we expect a hygienist to perform. One important task is to chart the patient’s existing restorations and treatment plan procedures. Having a hygienist chart and treatment plan effectively can help the front office create a treatment plan to present to the patient. I think it can be helpful for the hygienist to chart and enter treatment in the operatory, that way the front office team has an opportunity to review the patient’s treatment plan before the patient comes up front.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are a couple of ways to help your hygienist chart and treatment plan more effectively.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Procedure Buttons</b><br />Procedure buttons can save the team so much time when they’re charting. Think of these buttons as short-cuts. Instead of having to scroll through procedure categories to search for a specific procedure code while they have a patient in the chair, it’s much faster to select an icon from the procedure buttons list.<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F5Q7LQhTDlI/W6EpNBFwVQI/AAAAAAAACBM/UnDjBPglSEM0GsmrBdzW7b86WChQqbvIQCLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2Bbuttons.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="150" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F5Q7LQhTDlI/W6EpNBFwVQI/AAAAAAAACBM/UnDjBPglSEM0GsmrBdzW7b86WChQqbvIQCLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2Bbuttons.png" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As an office manager, you may be very familiar with the ADA codes and where to find them, but typically hygienists are not. Procedure buttons can help hygienists to select the correct code for the procedure. I’ve seen offices chart a crown code for the wrong type of material because the hygienist wasn’t familiar with the ADA codes. Creating procedure buttons can help to decrease these types of errors.<br /><br />In Dentrix you can <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2014/07/customize-procedure-button-sets-in.html" target="_blank">create a customized set of procedure button</a>s&nbsp;</span>that works for your office. Once you’ve created the customized buttons your office uses the most, they are accessible from any workstation in Dentrix, meaning the team can chart existing restorations or treatment plan procedures quickly.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Auto-State Button&nbsp;</b></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NjTbak6Uk5M/W6Enu3syyRI/AAAAAAAACBA/E7qXecPCf4AojO8HpFO0gch2ZbUhMKQvACLcBGAs/s1600/autostate%2Bbutton%2Bicon.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="32" data-original-width="139" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NjTbak6Uk5M/W6Enu3syyRI/AAAAAAAACBA/E7qXecPCf4AojO8HpFO0gch2ZbUhMKQvACLcBGAs/s1600/autostate%2Bbutton%2Bicon.PNG" /></a><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Auto-State button in the Patient Chart provides a fast and convenient way to chart procedures. The hygienist can chart multiple procedures that will have the same status (treatment plan, existing, existing other) using less mouse clicks.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />To use the Auto-State button, choose the light switch icon in the Patient Chart and then choose the procedure status, for example, EO (existing other). Dentrix puts a box around the selected status. Once activated, all the procedures you chart will be assigned this status.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Think of the Auto-State button like the Caps Lock button on your keyboard. Once you turn it on, all the letters you type are capitalized. Similarly, once the Auto-State button is turned on, all the procedures you chart will be assigned to the selected status.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />During Dentrix training I suggest to hygienists they use the Auto-State button. It’s especially beneficial for new patients. They can use the Auto-State to chart all the patient’s existing restorations, then switch to the treatment plan status when the doctor comes in to do the exam.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2016/03/keyboard-shortcuts-in-dentrix-perio.html" target="_blank">Probing Shortcuts</a></b>Accurate probe depths are an important part of the patient’s record. Regular probing is important to catch signs of periodontal disease. Many offices have their hygienist probe patients once a year. Here are a couple of tips to share with your hygienist that can make the process of probing quicker.&nbsp;</span><br />Many hygienists use the number pad on their keyboard to chart probe depths. They can also use the keyboard to chart, bleeding, suppuration, and bone loss. When the cursor is on the tooth and surface they want to chart bleeding for, they simply need to press <b>B</b> on the keyboard (and <b>S</b> for suppuration and <b>L</b> for bone loss). Using the keyboard saves the hygienist from having to switch from the keyboard to mouse, which saves time when periodontal charting.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Clinical Note Templates</b><br /><div class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p></o:p></div>Using clinical note templates when writing notes is a huge time-saver. My favorite part about using templates is that they are completely customizable. They can be as detailed (or not) as you want them to be. Using clinical note templates ensures that all the clinical notes for a procedure are consistent throughout the office. That way you can be sure the clinical notes your doctor wants are included.<br /><br />For more information read this Dentrix Tip Tuesday post: <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2015/04/adding-clinical-notes-using-templates.html" target="_blank">Adding Clinical Notes using Templates and Prompts</a>. </span></li></ol><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hygienists are producers for the office. If we can give them ways to use Dentrix more efficiently and save them time, they can spend more time on patient care discussing procedures that can profitable for the office. &nbsp;If you have questions on this topic or others, please e-mail me at&nbsp;vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</span></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-4998877638681073872018-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:002018-09-18T09:41:03.443-07:00Questions To Ask When Scheduling an Emergency Appointment<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dental emergencies are always going to happen. How we handle scheduling those patients can dictate the entire day for the office.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RujzWQboTXo/W5bOpoeyQDI/AAAAAAAACAk/K1Xzjyyqbzo3jocy9g0NpkkjZFdL_IGWQCLcBGAs/s1600/Dental%2BEmergency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RujzWQboTXo/W5bOpoeyQDI/AAAAAAAACAk/K1Xzjyyqbzo3jocy9g0NpkkjZFdL_IGWQCLcBGAs/s400/Dental%2BEmergency.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, I visited an office recently where the doctor had four patients scheduled back to back for an emergency exam and X-ray. He only had 30 minutes scheduled for each of these emergency patients. One patient needed an extraction and two others needed a root canal. He didn’t have enough time to treat the patients within the 30-minute appointment and they had to be scheduled for another day. It was a stressful situation for the doctor, frustrating for the patients, and unproductive for the office.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve found that if you ask certain questions when scheduling an emergency appointment, you can schedule an appropriate appointment length.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, if a patient has a broken crown, chances are they’ll need a new one. If you schedule enough time to do the new crown that day, the patient doesn’t have to come back for a separate appointment, and the office increases production.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some of the questions you can ask a patient on the phone to better plan for their emergency visit. While I would never suggest trying to diagnose a patient over the phone, you can ask certain questions to give your clinical team more information and be better prepared.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What type of symptoms are they experiencing and are they in pain?</b><br />I would always schedule a patient who’s in pain the day they called. But often when they call, they aren’t in pain, for example they may have chipped a tooth. If they’re not in pain, it’s not a true dental emergency. I may try to schedule the patient the next day or at a time that is more convenient for the office.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Is the pain constant? And is there sensitivity to hot or cold?</b><br />These questions can help you determine if it may be an endodontic situation. If you refer out for root canals, it may be a good idea to find out what availability the endodontist has.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How long has the tooth been bothering them? Where is tooth located?</b>These questions give the clinical team an opportunity to look at the patient’s chart and X-rays ahead of time to be better prepared.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If a crown came off, do they have the crown? Is the crown broken or intact?</b><br />This helps to determine if it will be a re-cement or new crown and can help you gauge the amount of time to schedule.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How old is the crown?</b><br />This gives the administrative team an opportunity to research the patient’s insurance replacement periods.</span></li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Did the tooth have a root canal?</b><br />If an endodontically treated tooth is broken it may not be restorable. This may result in the patient needing to have the tooth extracted, so you can schedule the appointment length accordingly.</span></li></ol><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Asking these types of questions up front when the patient calls can be a little more time consuming, but it saves time and stress when the patient is in the office. I think it’s important to be as prepared as possible when treating patients.&nbsp;Getting more information from the patient helps the front office team and the clinical team provide the best treat possible to the patient. <a href="https://www.dentrix.com/help/mergedProjects/Office%20Journal/desktop/Adding_Office_Journal_entries_manually.htm" target="_blank">Document the information you gather during the phone call in the Office Journal</a> so that each member of your team can access the information when they need it.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have questions about this or other topics, please email me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span> The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-19461628378494800022018-09-05T08:04:00.000-07:002018-09-10T13:10:18.441-07:00Scheduling Patients with Outstanding Treatment - Beat the End of Year RushNow that we’re headed into fall, it gets me thinking about all the things that need to be done at the office before towards the end of the year. There’s always a push at the end of the year for those patients who want to get treatment done that the doctor diagnosed months ago, and patients who want to use their outstanding insurance benefits before they renew in January.<br /><br />This can be a very productive time for the office, but also a stressful one. You must find appointment times for all these patients. I recommend that you start scheduling those patients now. That way you can control the flow of your schedule. You can spread the patients out over the next few months, instead of trying to jam them all in December. December tends to be a shorter work month with the holidays and many patients will be out of town. It’s more beneficial for your practice to start scheduling these patients now, in the fall.<br /><br />You can find all the patients with outstanding treatment in the <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2017/03/finding-specific-groups-of-patients-in.html" target="_blank">Dentrix Treatment Manager</a>. The Treatment Manager is available from both the Appointment Book and the Patient Chart.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nyg6HgqgLxs/W48MpNQp0uI/AAAAAAAAB_k/2NK7AkZap40SupFEnkaVZUQA93AoDmtzQCLcBGAs/s1600/Treatment%2BManager.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="26" data-original-width="26" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nyg6HgqgLxs/W48MpNQp0uI/AAAAAAAAB_k/2NK7AkZap40SupFEnkaVZUQA93AoDmtzQCLcBGAs/s1600/Treatment%2BManager.png" /></a></div><br />The Treatment Manager allows you to generate a list of patients that have outstanding treatment plans through filter options.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zlKWAvjGTDE/W48O-kuVSOI/AAAAAAAAB_8/pfUcZ8AXW3Q4WxHZZ8vkseCcls99FISFQCLcBGAs/s1600/Tp%2BFilters.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="638" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zlKWAvjGTDE/W48O-kuVSOI/AAAAAAAAB_8/pfUcZ8AXW3Q4WxHZZ8vkseCcls99FISFQCLcBGAs/s400/Tp%2BFilters.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />I like to generate a list of patients that is filtered by procedure code range. This allows me to search for a specific procedure codes like a crown or bridge and get an idea of how many patients have those procedures treatment planned, but not scheduled. Another reason I would search for a crown or bridge is because those procedures take two appointments two weeks apart. Many insurance companies pay based on the seat date so it’s important to get both appointments completed before the insurance renews.<br /><br />Another useful filter is a minimum treatment plan dollar amount which can help you find high production cases. High production cases will result in higher revenue for the practice, so I like to contact those patients first.<br /><br />You could also use filters to view only patients whose insurance renews in January. These patients are going to be motivated to schedule an appointment before their insurance renews on January 1st.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div>Once you have set your filters and generated a list of patients, you can display the insurance benefits each patient has remaining, letting you know which patients might be more likely to schedule.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The Show Columns option allow you to choose which type of information is displayed for each patient. For example, if you wanted to contact patients with treatment plans and outstanding insurance benefits, I would recommend viewing columns for:&nbsp;</div></div><div><ul><li><b>Patient Name</b></li><li><b>Last Treatment Plan Date</b> - shows you the last date treatment was diagnosed.</li><li><b>TP Total Amount</b> - allows you to see the total amount, so you can contact the higher production treatments plans first.</li><li><b>TP Dental Ins Estimate</b> - shows you the estimated insurance portion of the treatment plan. You can use this to educate your patients. For example, I could explain to a patient that the estimated insurance portion for the treatment plan is $1000. If the patient doesn’t use that benefit before January 1st, they will lose these benefits.</li><li><b>TP Patient Estimate</b>&nbsp;- gives the patient portion of the treatment plan.</li><li><b>Pri Dental Ins Benefits Rem</b> - shows the amount of primary insurance maximum remaining.</li><li>And if your office accepts secondary insurance benefits, you could also view <b>Sec Dental Ins Benefits Rem</b> as one of your columns.</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TJoFUdVeu8k/W48P1BSbSII/AAAAAAAACAE/dgf-hKQIbeooDnsYwq2GEj7J6lV6FsrPQCLcBGAs/s1600/Show%2BColumns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="541" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TJoFUdVeu8k/W48P1BSbSII/AAAAAAAACAE/dgf-hKQIbeooDnsYwq2GEj7J6lV6FsrPQCLcBGAs/s400/Show%2BColumns.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Once you have the list of patients that fit the filtering criteria you’ve set, it’s nice to have all this information in front of you so you can answer any questions they have regarding their treatment plan when you contact the patient. The Treatment Manager also allows you to select a patient’s name on the list and go directly to other Dentrix modules like the Patient Chart, so you have easy access to their clinical notes if the patient asks you a clinical question.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>By starting this process now, using the Treatment Manager to filter patients who have outstanding treatment plans and whose insurance renews in January, you can contact patients and explain to them the advantages of using their insurance benefits before it renews.&nbsp; By starting early, you have more control of your schedule, and can spread the production out over the next few months instead of trying to squeeze all the patients in December. If you have questions about the Treatment Manager please email me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div></div></div></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-17985360624807395132018-08-29T07:00:00.000-07:002018-09-04T16:08:24.769-07:00The New Patient Phone Call<span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">When a new patient calls to schedule an appointment, I recommend getting as much information on that initial phone call as possible. I’ve found that this can help to provide the most comprehensive care to the patient at their initial appointment.<br /><br />Here are some questions I like to ask a new patient on the phone and why:<br /><br /></span><br /><ol><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><li><b>"How did you hear about our office?"</b><br />This one’s easy. Tracking referrals can help the practice decide where best to spend advertising dollars. For example, if we placed an ad in a magazine, what was the return on investment? Internal marketing can also be beneficial for the office. <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2017/11/analyzing-referrals.html" target="_blank">Track which patients are referring their friends and family</a>. Send them a thank you note. Some offices give a small gift or offer free teeth whitening to the patient with the most referrals.<br />You can track referrals in Dentrix by entering in the Referred By source in the New Patient Information window in the Appointment Book.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lT8F2lZmHyg/W4WCXykuGAI/AAAAAAAAB_M/_8lIQKQDTskLikvJrAsTdfNusVPGljzxQCLcBGAs/s1600/NP%2BInfo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="307" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lT8F2lZmHyg/W4WCXykuGAI/AAAAAAAAB_M/_8lIQKQDTskLikvJrAsTdfNusVPGljzxQCLcBGAs/s1600/NP%2BInfo.jpg" /></a></div></li><br /><li><b>"When was the last time you had your teeth cleaned?"</b>This helps to determine several things. If the patient had their teeth cleaned six months ago, it’s likely they will just need a prophy and not periodontal treatment. This helps to know how much time to allow for their appointment. Also, the patient may have had X-rays taken recently at their last dental office that can be transferred to your office. <br />If it’s been ten years since their last cleaning, the patient may need scaling and root planing or more extensive periodontal treatment and the hygienist and doctor can be better prepared for that patient. <br />Also, this question typically gives the patient an opportunity to tell you about their attitude toward the dentist. For example, they may say something like, “It’s been ten years since I had my teeth cleaned. I’m afraid of the dentist.” This lets you know up front that the patient has a fear and may require a little more TLC.</li><br /><li><b>Medical history questions such as: "Do you have any replaced joints? Do you have any heart problems like Mitrovalve Prolapse?"</b><br />Getting this information ahead of time can help the office determine if this patient may have a need to pre-medicate prior to dental appointments. This avoids having to delay or reschedule the appointment which is annoying for the patient and lost production for the practice.</li><br /><li><b>What type of dental insurance do you have?</b><br />There are so many types of insurance plans. It can be hard for dental professionals to keep up and understand all the requirements, let alone the patient. I recommend verifying a patient’s dental insurance benefits before they come to your office. This way you can find out if the patient’s plan allows them benefits at your office before they arrive for their appointment.</li></span></ol><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br />I’ve found spending the time to get this information before the patient comes to the office makes the patient’s new patient appointment go more smoothly. By asking these types of questions you can avoid the problems that may delay or cause the office to have to reschedule the patient’s appointment. <br /><br />If you have questions or if you would like an example of a new patient call-in sheet, please e-mail me at<a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-29890593775135097142018-08-22T07:45:00.000-07:002018-08-22T13:56:39.527-07:00Dentrix G7 Health History - My Favorite New FeatureDentrix G7 is here and it is awesome! It includes some exciting new features. One of my personal favorites is the new Dentrix Health History. <br /><br />In previous versions of Dentrix we had medical alerts that could be edited in the Family File. Dentrix G7 has replaced medical alerts with a Health History module which is still accessible through the “red cross” button throughout Dentrix. <br /><br />The new Dentrix Health History is much more comprehensive than what we had in the past. My favorite part of the Dentrix Health History is the ability to inactivate medical conditions. This is such a great improvement because you will have a comprehensive list of a patient’s past and present medical conditions. It’s important to have an accurate medical history for patients so that the doctor can see if the patient has a condition that could cause a contraindication with the treatment they are providing or a drug they are prescribing. <br /><br />When you add a medical condition for a patient, you have the option to enter a both a reported date (when your practice became aware of the condition) and a start date (when the condition started) for the condition. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qemGjf26Kuc/W31zKrdoELI/AAAAAAAAB-s/43Rgoa0tea8Gk7v51Xk15_aml28c12FRwCLcBGAs/s1600/Reported%2B-%2BStart%2BDates%2Bfor%2BMedical%2BConditions.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="487" height="322" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qemGjf26Kuc/W31zKrdoELI/AAAAAAAAB-s/43Rgoa0tea8Gk7v51Xk15_aml28c12FRwCLcBGAs/s400/Reported%2B-%2BStart%2BDates%2Bfor%2BMedical%2BConditions.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />For example, if a patient has gestational diabetes, you can add that medical condition to their health history, with the start date of when they were diagnosed. <br /><br />Then, once the condition has been resolved, you don’t want to simply delete the medical condition from their health history. It’s important for offices to keep a record of these medical conditions even if they no longer apply because they are a part of the patient’s medical record. Similar to when we had paper charts, we always wrote in pen, never pencil and we would never erase anything that was written in the chart. <br /><br />With Dentrix G7, you can inactivate a medical condition, and doing so you still have a record that the patient had this medical condition in the past. If the condition were to reoccur, or a subsequent condition were to develop, you would have the date the condition was initially reported to your office. <br /><br />To inactivate a medical condition, in the Health History module, highlight the condition, and then click the Inactivate button from the toolbar. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfiMkBDE5LI/W31ztSbOOBI/AAAAAAAAB-0/3uLfeQuZWwc9mXA64QiCAVvdZjDSA-ZDwCLcBGAs/s1600/Inactivate%2Bcondition.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="1086" height="348" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfiMkBDE5LI/W31ztSbOOBI/AAAAAAAAB-0/3uLfeQuZWwc9mXA64QiCAVvdZjDSA-ZDwCLcBGAs/s640/Inactivate%2Bcondition.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />A warning message appears, letting you know that you this action cannot be undone. Click Yes to continue and inactivate the condition. The current date will be listed as the inactivation date for the condition, but this can be edited if needed. <br /><br />Now you can keep a truly accurate record of the patient’s previous and current medical conditions. You can quickly identify inactive medical conditions by looking at the Status column for the patient. <br />The Health History module is just one of several new features in Dentrix G7. For more information, you can watch the Dentrix G7 new feature preview video titled <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="http://hsps.pro/dentrix/newfeatures/NFOG70.html">Health History</a></span>. <br /><br />If you have any questions, you can contact me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></span></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-60879869674165886292018-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:002018-08-15T07:00:04.693-07:00Maximizing a Provider's Time in the ScheduleIt can be difficult for a new front office team member to learn the ins and outs of scheduling. It can be even more challenging if they have limited dental experience. To effectively schedule patient appointments, it’s important to understand where the doctor and assistant are during an operative procedure.<br /><br />Scheduling is such an important task in the dental office. I’ve seen offices that are very busy but unproductive. The goal is to maximize the doctor’s time and be as productive as possible.<br /><br />In Dentrix you can schedule provider time and assistant time. This can help a new front office team member to understand where a doctor can be double-booked to maximize their schedule and where they can’t. Using this system can also help a new doctor to know where they need to be and when to effectively manage their time.<br /><br />You can adjust provider, assistant, and chair time within a patient’s appointment.<br />When scheduling a new appointment select the search button (&gt;) next to Appt Length in the Appointment Information window.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdIybMDI0_0/W3NWpiQrV6I/AAAAAAAAB-E/e75pWJidkfs1G5zTrqstSjR8fVyGkhMwACLcBGAs/s1600/Appt%2BTime%2Bsearch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="533" height="390" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdIybMDI0_0/W3NWpiQrV6I/AAAAAAAAB-E/e75pWJidkfs1G5zTrqstSjR8fVyGkhMwACLcBGAs/s400/Appt%2BTime%2Bsearch.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />The Appointment Pattern Time window will appear.&nbsp; Select the time units, then whether those time units should be designated as Provider, Assistant or Chair Time.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pPPfdrrna6E/W3NXqE7rCzI/AAAAAAAAB-M/yRyP9Rr29mUJ7CZwITtPmtwtO4ddUVmawCLcBGAs/s1600/Time%2BPattern.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="226" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pPPfdrrna6E/W3NXqE7rCzI/AAAAAAAAB-M/yRyP9Rr29mUJ7CZwITtPmtwtO4ddUVmawCLcBGAs/s400/Time%2BPattern.png" width="183" /></a></div><br /><br />In this example, the fist 10 minutes of the appointment is designated as assistant time for the assistant to seat the patient and place topical anesthetic. The next 10 mins is designated as provider time for the doctor to anesthetize. The next 10 minutes is assistant time while the patient gets numb, and the final two 10 minute time frames are provider time for the doctor to perform the procedure.<br /><br />Scheduling using dedicated time units allows the doctor to be most productive because instead of waiting for the assistant to finish their part of the procedure they can be working in another operatory. For example, doctor could anesthetize a patient in one operatory and while waiting for that patient to get numb, they can work on another patient. I’ve seen this work well in offices, especially during procedures that require a lot of assistant time, such as a crown prep. While the assistant is making the temporary, the doctor can work on another patient in another operatory to be most productive. Time is money as they say, so it’s important for dental offices to be as productive as possible.<br /><br />Time units dedicated to a provider (X) can’t be booked in more than two appointments at a time. This eliminates the doctor being booked in more than two operatories at once.<br /><br />Not only can you can adjust appointment time patterns within an individual appointment, but you can also set them for specific procedure codes, so they will be pre-set when you are scheduling an appointment for that procedure code in the future.<br /><br />Let’s take the crown code D2740, for example. In the Procedure Code Editor, you can select how the time units are set up for this procedure code.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3LhgF3qhQg/W3NYexYhu4I/AAAAAAAAB-U/Wbfi1Qz7ZSQWSz-hHkVI02N3tbbAxU1gACLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2BTime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="508" height="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3LhgF3qhQg/W3NYexYhu4I/AAAAAAAAB-U/Wbfi1Qz7ZSQWSz-hHkVI02N3tbbAxU1gACLcBGAs/s400/Procedure%2BTime.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Once you have allocated the Provider, Assistant, and Chair Time for the procedure, save your changes. And the next time you schedule that procedure for patients, it will be easy for your providers to know where they need to be, and you can better manage their time.<br /><br />Scheduling appointments and properly assigning provider, assistant, and chair time can help the front office team to schedule more effectively. It gives them the ability to know where they can double-book a provider, and more importantly, where they can’t.<br /><br />For questions on this topic or others, please email me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></span></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-23969000588423972272018-08-08T07:00:00.000-07:002018-08-08T07:00:05.529-07:00Presenting Alternate Treatment Plans<span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">When I was growing up, my dad worked for a company that produced high performance sports cars. The cars had a Lamborghini engine and cost about $200,000. My dad took me on a sales trip once that taught me a very valuable lesson.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Two prospective buyers came to look at the car which we had brought to a high-end car dealership in Houston. The first prospective buyer was a well-dressed man with an expensive looking watch who already owned an earlier year model of the car. The second prospective buyer was a man in dirty overalls and a cowboy hat who drove a beat-up pickup truck. At the end of the day my dad asked me who I thought was going to buy the car. I answered naively, “The first man, he’s the one who can afford it.”&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">My dad informed me that the man in the overalls was in fact one of the wealthiest land owners in Texas. That was a lesson in sales and about people in general that I have carried with me ever since.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">I’ve referred to that experience many times over my dental career. It taught me to never assume what a patient may want or be able to afford. It’s our job as the dental office to offer every patient all available treatment options. Present the cost for each treatment option and discuss the pros and cons. Allow the patient to make an informed decision about their dental care.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">The Dentrix Treatment Planner allows you to create different treatment options for a patient by creating multiple treatment cases. For example, a patient may have a missing tooth. They have several options to replace the missing tooth. A partial, a bridge, or an implant. When creating a treatment plan, I like to use the Treatment Planner Layout within the Patient Chart because it allows me to do multiple tasks from one screen. To switch to the Treatment Planner Layout, in the Patient Chart select the View Menu, then Chart Layout, then Treatment Planner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">First, you should treatment plan all of the options for the patient in the Patient Chart. These procedures will automatically go into the default treatment case in the Treatment Planner. The default case will be the one with the bold title.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fZLNfUrutTw/W2iLUt-SnLI/AAAAAAAAB8M/goYChvVTSD0StBdFqe1cylwQfUQ0r_GwACLcBGAs/s1600/Default%2BCase.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="501" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fZLNfUrutTw/W2iLUt-SnLI/AAAAAAAAB8M/goYChvVTSD0StBdFqe1cylwQfUQ0r_GwACLcBGAs/s400/Default%2BCase.png" width="346" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Create a new treatment case by choosing the New Case icon in the Treatment Planner Case Setup panel.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4eZN75Tz28I/W2iMgpmXqVI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/AGEzVXCR6ww8SaG6ayWP11LQlaKdHBsPgCLcBGAs/s1600/New%2BCase%2Bbutton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="330" height="65" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4eZN75Tz28I/W2iMgpmXqVI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/AGEzVXCR6ww8SaG6ayWP11LQlaKdHBsPgCLcBGAs/s400/New%2BCase%2Bbutton.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Click on the partial procedure within the default case, and drag and drop it into the new case folder. You can right-click on the word Treatment Plan next to the folder and select Rename Case. Rename this case “Partial”.&nbsp;</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Next create another new case and move all procedures associated with the bridge option from the default case to the new folder and rename it “Bridge.”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Repeat these steps for the remaining procedures associated with the implant option, renaming the new case “Implant.”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Dentrix gives the option to link these cases. Select the Link Alternate Cases icon on the tool bar and a menu will appear for you to choose which cases you want to link together.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cxyndKT4HJQ/W2iNLe2BD6I/AAAAAAAAB8g/V3rC99-xrI4sA9gvqt635sllXLiGc5XQACLcBGAs/s1600/Link%2BAlternate%2Bdrop%2Bdown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="330" height="255" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cxyndKT4HJQ/W2iNLe2BD6I/AAAAAAAAB8g/V3rC99-xrI4sA9gvqt635sllXLiGc5XQACLcBGAs/s320/Link%2BAlternate%2Bdrop%2Bdown.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">When one or more cases are linked together, one of the cases is designated as the recommended case. The recommended case is shown with a yellow star on the link symbol. You can change the recommended case as needed by right-clicking any case, and then selecting Set as Recommended Case.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-foxNXP1EDd8/W2iQs7SyotI/AAAAAAAAB9M/ArqMiNPzvicMfhICoT2-USc9hWBlJBlRACLcBGAs/s1600/Recommended.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="330" height="267" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-foxNXP1EDd8/W2iQs7SyotI/AAAAAAAAB9M/ArqMiNPzvicMfhICoT2-USc9hWBlJBlRACLcBGAs/s400/Recommended.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Once you have presented the options to the patient you can accept the patient’s chosen treatment plan. To accept a treatment case, select the folder and then click the Update Case Status button and choose the Accepted option.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pe2nLKtnWS4/W2iRcxcPSbI/AAAAAAAAB9U/xbiDE5wBKwUalIOGyp4yJBZTYJX-5WKRQCLcBGAs/s1600/update%2Bcase%2Bstatus.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="330" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pe2nLKtnWS4/W2iRcxcPSbI/AAAAAAAAB9U/xbiDE5wBKwUalIOGyp4yJBZTYJX-5WKRQCLcBGAs/s400/update%2Bcase%2Bstatus.PNG" width="226" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">My favorite part about linking alternate cases is that when you accept one treatment case that is linked to other treatment cases, Dentrix will give you a warning message that this case is linked to others and it will automatically reject the other treatment options. Select OK to accept the selected case and reject the others.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Rejected cases no longer show in the graphic chart or in the treatment planner unless you check the box to include rejected cases.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I9alFxuNUd8/W2iR5vHFRKI/AAAAAAAAB9g/OHUErgpEMnwbwrNV5-AGPgPJlTH7xCr8wCLcBGAs/s1600/Include%2Brejected%2Bcases.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="335" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I9alFxuNUd8/W2iR5vHFRKI/AAAAAAAAB9g/OHUErgpEMnwbwrNV5-AGPgPJlTH7xCr8wCLcBGAs/s400/Include%2Brejected%2Bcases.PNG" width="333" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">I like this feature because although we may not want to always view rejected cases, Dentrix has kept a record in the Patient Chart that additional options were presented to the patient. Rejected cases will not show on unscheduled treatment plan reports.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Linking cases is a great feature when presenting a patient with more than one treatment option.&nbsp; If you have questions or comments on this topic, or any other, please E-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></span></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-68863157023825336382018-08-01T07:00:00.000-07:002018-08-01T07:00:04.052-07:00The Value in Using Insurance Claim Status NotesDealing with dental insurance is a necessary evil in our profession. Tracking outstanding insurance claims is an important, on-going task in all offices that accept insurance payments. Having an organized tracking system can make this job easier.<br /><br />A general goal for offices, except for ortho, is not to have any outstanding insurance claims over 60 days past due. To obtain this goal you must dedicate time daily to follow up on insurance claims. Once you have contacted an insurance company to find out the status of an outstanding claim, Dentrix has a specific place to record this information.<br /><br />In the patient’s Ledger, double-click the insurance claim to open the insurance claim window.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jC2niip8wcQ/W2Cf6PF_bTI/AAAAAAAAB7U/aKdqjHhTlGABBGJd2LP8FD90-wZ0wmIpwCLcBGAs/s1600/Status%2Bblock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="553" height="380" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jC2niip8wcQ/W2Cf6PF_bTI/AAAAAAAAB7U/aKdqjHhTlGABBGJd2LP8FD90-wZ0wmIpwCLcBGAs/s400/Status%2Bblock.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Dentrix will automatically enter the date the claim was created and sent. Double-click the Status block to open the Insurance Claim Status window. There are fields available for you to make detailed notes regarding the status of this insurance claim. For example, you could make a note explaining that the insurance carrier is requesting X-ray, sent X-ray today. By adding notes in the Claim Status Note field, you or anyone else in the office can see when the last time the claim status was updated and what action was taken. You also have the option to check the box and enter the applicable date if Tracer Sent (meaning you attempted to track the claim), if the claim is On-Hold, if it was Re-Sent or Voided.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--hLOwj-jqDE/W2CgVS-XOgI/AAAAAAAAB7c/Z8BcTU-TvV4cCc5da2TP1x4L4Igu_bpiACLcBGAs/s1600/Claim%2Bstatus%2Bnote.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="486" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--hLOwj-jqDE/W2CgVS-XOgI/AAAAAAAAB7c/Z8BcTU-TvV4cCc5da2TP1x4L4Igu_bpiACLcBGAs/s400/Claim%2Bstatus%2Bnote.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The advantage to making claim status notes within the insurance claim is that when you run the Insurance Aging Report (Office Manager &gt; Reports &gt; Ledger &gt; Insurance Aging Report) you have an option to view the status notes on this report.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CAOKUCBIow8/W2CgqYay-nI/AAAAAAAAB7o/DLjvqZQxPLsCHrxodHeY0NV49fbaHF6lgCLcBGAs/s1600/Ins%2Baging%2Breport%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="400" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CAOKUCBIow8/W2CgqYay-nI/AAAAAAAAB7o/DLjvqZQxPLsCHrxodHeY0NV49fbaHF6lgCLcBGAs/s400/Ins%2Baging%2Breport%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Printing claim status notes on the Insurance Aging report is beneficial because if you can see that a claim that was resent yesterday, you may not want to contact the insurance company again regarding this claim. This can save you a lot of valuable time.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1mYYgfNAz4/W2CgjSYR8aI/AAAAAAAAB7g/leUXNeYngDUh1mp2eZ4YS0-mHMKk8mfmQCLcBGAs/s1600/Claim%2BStatus%2BNote%2Bexample.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1200" height="188" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1mYYgfNAz4/W2CgjSYR8aI/AAAAAAAAB7g/leUXNeYngDUh1mp2eZ4YS0-mHMKk8mfmQCLcBGAs/s400/Claim%2BStatus%2BNote%2Bexample.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of how claim status notes print on the Insurance Aging Report.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you have questions about this topic or others, please contact me by e-mail at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div><br /><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"><br /></a><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br />The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-31335507721903538152018-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:002018-07-25T07:00:05.392-07:00Appointment Book Views and Scheduled Production<span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">One of the great features in Dentrix, by Henry Schein One,&nbsp; is the option to set up Appointment Book Views. Appointment Book Views allow you to customize what the Appointment Book looks like on an individual work-station.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">You can select which operatories, providers, days, and times that are displayed when the Appointment Book is viewed. A recent <a href="http://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2018/07/creating-appointment-book-views-that.html" target="_blank">Dentrix Tip Tuesday blog post</a> explains how you can also select which type of information is displayed for each appointment, such as patient name, phone number, chart number, appointment reason, appointment amount, provider et</span>c.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tfiq06qpmAk/W1ePKPW_QWI/AAAAAAAAB5c/0x6DnIZdakIuRrB2Id7lyD--glBoUp4pQCLcBGAs/s1600/view%2Bsetup%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="464" height="385" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tfiq06qpmAk/W1ePKPW_QWI/AAAAAAAAB5c/0x6DnIZdakIuRrB2Id7lyD--glBoUp4pQCLcBGAs/s400/view%2Bsetup%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">One of the things that I like about setting up Appointment Book views is you can set up a view for a provider to track their projected production for the month. For example, you can create a view for a hygienist or a doctor and be able to see their scheduled production at a glance by first selecting that provider’s view, and then clicking the calendar in the upper left corner of the Appointment Book.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YARsoIUTBCM/W1eU-cz6oDI/AAAAAAAAB58/QTloF4vQ_zsc3JMjjGgLZxB48MROh-kiwCLcBGAs/s1600/calendar%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YARsoIUTBCM/W1eU-cz6oDI/AAAAAAAAB58/QTloF4vQ_zsc3JMjjGgLZxB48MROh-kiwCLcBGAs/s400/calendar%2Bimage.PNG" width="336" /></a></div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">On the Calendar screen, select Scheduled Production to view the scheduled production amount for the provider(s) associated with the Appointment Book view. Scheduled Production is a toggle switch you turn on and off showing a dollar amount listed on the selected calendar day. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tI9JEV-lcW8/W1eVTuSF-sI/AAAAAAAAB6E/I41xJa1tKoc1byvEmtq5sSQJP1kOFCsdgCLcBGAs/s1600/calendar%2Bimage%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tI9JEV-lcW8/W1eVTuSF-sI/AAAAAAAAB6E/I41xJa1tKoc1byvEmtq5sSQJP1kOFCsdgCLcBGAs/s400/calendar%2Bimage%2B2.png" width="336" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">By clicking the Options button in the Scheduled Production calendar, you can choose if Dentrix will calculate production with production adjustments or use the production from the Practice Analysis</span>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TiRi0c68N24/W1eb9nbqR1I/AAAAAAAAB6c/dLG-KkonQp8GNOHThdFGXqN2JTQI-BwcwCLcBGAs/s1600/Options.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="250" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TiRi0c68N24/W1eb9nbqR1I/AAAAAAAAB6c/dLG-KkonQp8GNOHThdFGXqN2JTQI-BwcwCLcBGAs/s1600/Options.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">When scheduling a high production case, I recommend referring to the scheduled production calendar. You can quickly see which days have lower production and schedule a high production case on one of those days. This helps to ensure the office meets its monthly production goals. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">If you have entered monthly production goals they will display on the scheduled production calendar with the variance of the scheduled production to the production goal. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">To enter monthly production goals, open the Office Manager. Select Analysis &gt; Practice. In the Dentrix Practice Analysis screen, select Setup &gt; Goals.&nbsp; Goals are setup for each provider. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0DW6ZEAjvw/W1egWX5A6eI/AAAAAAAAB60/WHGnZy9PgAYpl0vcJKLVQrxKD6H-Kea4ACLcBGAs/s1600/Goal%2BSetup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="350" height="365" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0DW6ZEAjvw/W1egWX5A6eI/AAAAAAAAB60/WHGnZy9PgAYpl0vcJKLVQrxKD6H-Kea4ACLcBGAs/s400/Goal%2BSetup.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Select the provider and enter the year you are setting up goals for. Then click Read Selected Goals. You now have the option to add a monthly goal. Click the Add button and enter the month for the goal (for example, 8 for August) then enter the gross monthly production goal for that provider. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">That goal will now display on the scheduled production calendar. Based on the providers you have selected in the Appointment Book View, Dentrix will display those provider’s production goals in relation to the scheduled production. If you have all providers selected, then you will be viewing the production goals for the entire practice. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">You can use Appointment Book views to view your scheduled production which can help you schedule appointments in a way that helps you to meet your practice production goals. </span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Please reach out to me if you have any questions about Appointment Book Views and scheduled production. E-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span><br /><a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"><br /></a><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br />The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-42361963530246097992018-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:002018-07-24T15:31:25.311-07:00New Patient NumbersThe number of new patients seen each month is an important statistic for every dental practice.&nbsp; Healthy new patient numbers ensure practice growth. Therefore it is imperative that these numbers be accurate.<br /><br />There are several reports in Dentrix that show new patient numbers for each month. You can find new patients seen each month in the Practice Advisor Report, the Practice Analysis in the Office Manager, and even on the production calendar in the Appointment Book. I have been in offices that say they don’t think their new patient numbers are correct.<br /><br />It’s important to understand how Dentrix calculates the number of new patients seen each month. Dentrix looks at the patient’s first visit date in the Family File to get these numbers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYuuuPJW2DM/W0zeNA2jg3I/AAAAAAAAB4Q/7dMgtgXZBbUKXFDXxp3AaYJKkHBZvDzkgCLcBGAs/s1600/Family%2Bfile%2Bfirst%2Bvisit%2Bdate.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="624" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYuuuPJW2DM/W0zeNA2jg3I/AAAAAAAAB4Q/7dMgtgXZBbUKXFDXxp3AaYJKkHBZvDzkgCLcBGAs/s400/Family%2Bfile%2Bfirst%2Bvisit%2Bdate.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>The best way to schedule a new patient appointment, to ensure your new patient numbers are calculated correctly, is to double-click on the desired day, time, and operatory in the Appointment Book and when the Select Patient screen appears, clicking the New Patient button.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g3Yy49KYReE/W0zeXFx1MLI/AAAAAAAAB4U/UOSnIYTzVCAb9LjS_K6qXurfVgI_4-0NACLcBGAs/s1600/patient%2Bsearch%2Bscreen2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="746" height="290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g3Yy49KYReE/W0zeXFx1MLI/AAAAAAAAB4U/UOSnIYTzVCAb9LjS_K6qXurfVgI_4-0NACLcBGAs/s400/patient%2Bsearch%2Bscreen2.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Enter the new patient’s name, phone numbers, e-mail address, home address and referral source and select OK.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cL_ysoCWMkg/W0zen2RY1GI/AAAAAAAAB4g/WnqEwhIkXHs1PAL3DnI684oL79YpcA1bwCLcBGAs/s1600/new%2Bpt%2Binfo%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="367" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cL_ysoCWMkg/W0zen2RY1GI/AAAAAAAAB4g/WnqEwhIkXHs1PAL3DnI684oL79YpcA1bwCLcBGAs/s320/new%2Bpt%2Binfo%2Bimage.PNG" width="319" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the appointment information window, choose Initial and select the procedures the new patient will be coming in for. Assign the appointment provider if necessary and select OK.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2R8VTuntOyQ/W0zeximsFWI/AAAAAAAAB4k/IpC8ebeMJbUj5aLt8Ryql0iNAPnfpsj6ACLcBGAs/s1600/appointment%2Binfo%2Bimage2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="533" height="390" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2R8VTuntOyQ/W0zeximsFWI/AAAAAAAAB4k/IpC8ebeMJbUj5aLt8Ryql0iNAPnfpsj6ACLcBGAs/s400/appointment%2Binfo%2Bimage2.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The new patient’s appointment is now scheduled in the Appointment Book and Dentrix indicates this is a new patient by showing NP in front of the patient’s name on the appointment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8_I73S5gT_I/W0ze7-EWqNI/AAAAAAAAB4s/TYvZxpHwQCgan6XP3c0rk1rHM-ojpMR7QCLcBGAs/s1600/new%2Bpatient%2Bappointment%2Bimage2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="79" data-original-width="203" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8_I73S5gT_I/W0ze7-EWqNI/AAAAAAAAB4s/TYvZxpHwQCgan6XP3c0rk1rHM-ojpMR7QCLcBGAs/s1600/new%2Bpatient%2Bappointment%2Bimage2.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When the patient comes into the office for their first appointment, select the appointment in the Appointment Book and go to the Family File. From the Family File, select File &gt; New Patient with Appt. Select if you are creating a new family or adding to an existing family.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRnN4A1d4FU/W0zfGZG5d_I/AAAAAAAAB40/hik_j8pggWIDAX4coZx2_EtiaZfy-Dv7QCLcBGAs/s1600/New%2Bpatient%2Bwith%2Bappointment%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="624" height="301" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRnN4A1d4FU/W0zfGZG5d_I/AAAAAAAAB40/hik_j8pggWIDAX4coZx2_EtiaZfy-Dv7QCLcBGAs/s400/New%2Bpatient%2Bwith%2Bappointment%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dentrix pulls in the information you entered for the patient when you created their appointment. Fill in additional information as needed (including birth date, patient status, and gender). Dentrix will assign the patient’s first visit date as the date you are entering the patient into the Family File. This date can be changed manually if necessary. When finished, click OK to save the patient’s information.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuGrsT9GkFk/W0zfVYMtWlI/AAAAAAAAB44/Isq0ZFTkAQQlh6OndjFeAwCauOWi4BPyQCLcBGAs/s1600/First%2BVisit%2BDate%2BRecorded.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="457" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuGrsT9GkFk/W0zfVYMtWlI/AAAAAAAAB44/Isq0ZFTkAQQlh6OndjFeAwCauOWi4BPyQCLcBGAs/s400/First%2BVisit%2BDate%2BRecorded.png" width="357" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Entering new patients this way will keep your monthly new patient numbers accurate. If you have questions about new patient numbers or how to enter patients into the Family File, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br />The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-42870885182911735292018-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:002018-07-16T11:12:26.011-07:00Using the Dentrix Time ClockI hope I’m not telling my age when I say that I remember using an actual punch-style timeclock to punch in and out on a time card each day. As the office manager, I would have to manually add up each employee’s hours for each pay period. It was always a time-consuming process. Then we started using the Time Clock feature in Dentrix. It made the process much easier. Dentrix would do the work of calculating each employee’s hours based on a selected date range.<br /><br />In order to use the Dentrix Time Clock, each staff member will need to have a unique user ID. You can set up each employee with a user ID in the Dentrix Office Manager. Select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Practice Resource Setup.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uoq3WAbrxwc/Wzu1crqbXfI/AAAAAAAAB2U/J1fJbKHRWnEmHhjJ_blBdjdp2FA2k2rVQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Practice%2BResource%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="477" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uoq3WAbrxwc/Wzu1crqbXfI/AAAAAAAAB2U/J1fJbKHRWnEmHhjJ_blBdjdp2FA2k2rVQCEwYBhgL/s400/Practice%2BResource%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" width="331" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remember when setting up employees in the Practice Resource Setup that dentists and hygienists should be entered under Providers, with dentists being primary providers and hygienists being secondary providers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GCfkPuqSm7Q/Wzu2CAhY_QI/AAAAAAAAB2c/YYUk4rL4BzwxrQ8GaUfUBLioKgyc1zEFgCLcBGAs/s1600/Provider%2Bsetup%2Bwindow.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GCfkPuqSm7Q/Wzu2CAhY_QI/AAAAAAAAB2c/YYUk4rL4BzwxrQ8GaUfUBLioKgyc1zEFgCLcBGAs/s400/Provider%2Bsetup%2Bwindow.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Assistants and administrative staff should be entered under Staff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p5mRA9bSlYo/Wzu2pDq7BwI/AAAAAAAAB2s/c81TL4eEzfQtHdrfCkq1iYHsO0_P3xWrwCLcBGAs/s1600/Staff%2Bsetup%2Bwindow.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="451" height="322" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p5mRA9bSlYo/Wzu2pDq7BwI/AAAAAAAAB2s/c81TL4eEzfQtHdrfCkq1iYHsO0_P3xWrwCLcBGAs/s400/Staff%2Bsetup%2Bwindow.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once set up in Dentrix, staff can use the Time Clock icon located in the Dentrix Launcher to clock in when they arrive the morning, in and out for lunch, and clock out at the end of each day.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YOOADlkbUwk/Wzu3EkrQw1I/AAAAAAAAB24/0FQA_eijrdQgPcvKkM1SGGmweoavHAKHQCLcBGAs/s1600/Launcher%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="815" height="313" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YOOADlkbUwk/Wzu3EkrQw1I/AAAAAAAAB24/0FQA_eijrdQgPcvKkM1SGGmweoavHAKHQCLcBGAs/s400/Launcher%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>If an employee forgets to clock in or out, they can add a note to on their time card to communicate to the office manager they made an error.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VPA8rZYp6I/Wzu573NStOI/AAAAAAAAB3w/YveA12YbLEkgR77qm-DnvIczm-m-pGBnACLcBGAs/s1600/Clock%2Bin%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="568" height="336" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VPA8rZYp6I/Wzu573NStOI/AAAAAAAAB3w/YveA12YbLEkgR77qm-DnvIczm-m-pGBnACLcBGAs/s400/Clock%2Bin%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>At the end of each pay period, I recommend the office manager print the Time Clock report. Open the Time Clock Module and select Report. On the report, Dentrix calculates each employee’s hours and gives you a total number of hours for a specific date range. The report displays a list of employees and their hours.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S-rgZqDA544/Wzu6lTLyNDI/AAAAAAAAB34/6DxjS3y3aJ06HpWj6QBoZteFK9dbC0gjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Timeclock%2Breport%2Bwindow.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="568" height="336" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S-rgZqDA544/Wzu6lTLyNDI/AAAAAAAAB34/6DxjS3y3aJ06HpWj6QBoZteFK9dbC0gjQCLcBGAs/s400/Timeclock%2Breport%2Bwindow.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Select the employees you want to include on the report, then select the date range for the pay period. Under the Select Report Types options, check the box to include notes. These would be notes that an employee wrote on their time card, for example, “I arrived at 9:00am, but forgot to clock in”.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Check to Exclude Days with no Punches/Notes so Dentrix doesn’t print days without punches like weekends. I recommend checking the New Page for Each Employee option and giving it to the employee to review. They can sign the time card to verify they have reviewed it.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I have found that allowing employees to verify their time card can eliminate future discrepancies regarding hours. You can keep the signed time card with the employee’s check stub, or you can scan it into the employee’s Dentrix Document Center.&nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have questions about the Dentrix Time Clock, check out the <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2016/04/punching-clock-start-getting-paid-in-4.html" target="_blank">Punching the Clock</a> and <a href="https://dentrixtiptuesdays.blogspot.com/2016/04/tick-tock-set-up-your-time-clock.html" target="_blank">Set up Your Time Clock</a> Dentrix Tip Tuesday posts, or e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br /></div></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-50911718270537980592018-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:002018-07-04T06:00:09.695-07:00Dentrix Continuing Care, Part 3 of 3<span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about using Dentrix Continuing Care as an efficient recall system for your office. Using Dentrix Continuing Care you can schedule patients according to their customized frequency interval. For the patients who don’t pre-schedule their appointment, you can use continuing care lists to follow up. If continuing care is not set up correctly, it can’t function properly.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">We have discussed how to <a href="http://thedentrixofficemanager.blogspot.com/2018/06/dentrix-continuing-care-part-1-of-3.html" target="_blank">assign a procedure code to a continuing care type</a> and how to assign office default intervals for a continuing care type. We also discussed how to <a href="http://thedentrixofficemanager.blogspot.com/2018/06/dentrix-continuing-care-part-2-of-3.html" target="_blank">customize frequency intervals for an individual patient</a>. For example, those patients who may need to be seen more frequently for a procedure, like a prophy.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Now that you have this setup, you may have continuing care types you will no longer use that need to be cleaned up. A continuing care type can be deleted, however to delete it, no patients can be attached to it. Let’s first look at how we can identify patients attached to continuing care type.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">One of my favorite ways to identify groups of patients in Dentrix is using the Patient Reports (by filters) in the Office Manager. Open the Office Manager, select Letters and Custom Lists &gt; Misc.&nbsp; Highlight Patient Report (by filters), and then select Edit.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">In this setup screen you have many options for search filters. Dentrix will search your patient database using the selected search filters and create a list of patients that meet your search criteria.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">In this situation, I would recommend searching for patients with the Status of patient, inactive, and non-patient to be sure we find all patients in your database attached to the continuing care type you want to delete.</span><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T20h1IOACEM/WzZFvBCG3aI/AAAAAAAAB0c/sqtsKUPD09gJ7wuBHPDv3WQ1uuQqELnDACLcBGAs/s1600/pt%2Breport%2Bby%2Bfilters%2Bpt%2Bstatus%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="961" height="227" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T20h1IOACEM/WzZFvBCG3aI/AAAAAAAAB0c/sqtsKUPD09gJ7wuBHPDv3WQ1uuQqELnDACLcBGAs/s400/pt%2Breport%2Bby%2Bfilters%2Bpt%2Bstatus%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Before you begin selecting your search filters be sure to check that all the filter fields are clear. Otherwise Dentrix will apply those filter fields and your report will be incomplete.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Select &gt;&gt; next to Continuing Care. Choose the continuing care type you want to delete to find which patients are attached to it. I would recommend leaving both the Due Date and Prior Treatment Date fields blank to find all attached patients and I also recommend selecting ALL in the Include box to view patients both with and without appointments. Then click OK to go back to the Setup window.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tCWTU762tH8/WzZHrkz-tfI/AAAAAAAAB00/8XreRkuNUYkW3Brt1L2_rxuWSENoXLO3ACLcBGAs/s1600/patient%2Breport%2Bby%2Bfilters%2BCC%2Bfilter%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="355" height="299" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tCWTU762tH8/WzZHrkz-tfI/AAAAAAAAB00/8XreRkuNUYkW3Brt1L2_rxuWSENoXLO3ACLcBGAs/s320/patient%2Breport%2Bby%2Bfilters%2BCC%2Bfilter%2Bimage.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Click OK again to close the Setup window and then click Open List Manager.<a href="http://magazine.dentrix.com/dentrix-magazine--articles.html#!/posts/The-Dentrix-G6-List-Manager/52" target="_blank"> The List Manager</a> opens and will show all patients attached to the selected continuing care type that you want to delete. From this list you can highlight a patient’s name and click the Family File icon on the toolbar.&nbsp;</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--MmYQxPSPko/WzZLj2MRoOI/AAAAAAAAB1M/nLuQGipk7ZsZ_mhDY9Yyx6ckAzGVQC4tQCLcBGAs/s1600/List%2BManager.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="701" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--MmYQxPSPko/WzZLj2MRoOI/AAAAAAAAB1M/nLuQGipk7ZsZ_mhDY9Yyx6ckAzGVQC4tQCLcBGAs/s400/List%2BManager.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">In the selected patient’s Family File, double-click the Continuing Care block. Select the continuing care type you want to delete, click the Clear button, and then Yes to confirm.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GW5u_C6Cq3Y/WzZMeqGnCpI/AAAAAAAAB1U/tditjbjFHGoKmuY6Q5G52alW1LXuS5jTACLcBGAs/s1600/Continuing%2Bcare%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="511" height="209" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GW5u_C6Cq3Y/WzZMeqGnCpI/AAAAAAAAB1U/tditjbjFHGoKmuY6Q5G52alW1LXuS5jTACLcBGAs/s320/Continuing%2Bcare%2Bimage.PNG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Once all the patients attached to that continuing care type have been cleared, you can delete the continuing care type. To do this, open the Office Manager, Select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Continuing Care &gt; Continuing Care Setup. Choose the continuing care type and select Delete. Then close the Continuing Care Setup window</span>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ywqml8T1yQU/WzZTFfMq1OI/AAAAAAAAB1s/X3AAihYJ8NIhQKoJK3hQu_kpTfEAKP_FwCLcBGAs/s1600/CC%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="490" height="218" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ywqml8T1yQU/WzZTFfMq1OI/AAAAAAAAB1s/X3AAihYJ8NIhQKoJK3hQu_kpTfEAKP_FwCLcBGAs/s320/CC%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Using these steps, you can clean up your continuing care type and delete any that the office no longer uses. Now that your continuing care system is set up correctly you can use it to easily schedule the patient’s next appointment and you can generate lists from which you can contact patients that don’t have an appointment. Using and maintaining Dentrix Continuing Care is the key to having a successful hygiene department. If you have any questions regarding Dentrix Continuing Care, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br /></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-6787761208314755942018-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:002018-06-27T06:00:07.035-07:00Dentrix Continuing Care, Part 2 of 3Dentrix Continuing Care is the recall system for your office. It tracks when patients are due for routine procedures. Setting the continuing care system up correctly is the key to its success. Last week we covered how to assign a procedure code to a continuing care type. Each time that procedure code is set complete from the Appointment Book, Dentrix will prompt you to schedule the patient’s next continuing care appointment and Dentrix will update the patient’s due date information in the Family File.<br /><br />You can set default frequency intervals for a continuing care type for your office, using the frequency interval you use for most of your patients. For example, for PROPHY continuing care type most patients will be on a 6-month recall.<br /><br />To set a default frequency for a continuing care type, open the Dentrix Office Manager and select Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Continuing Care &gt; Continuing Care Setup.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s4U9KKW2VTs/WywfJEAW83I/AAAAAAAABzI/T193ZEODfvcHIn-DHm0xAWx61LuyfvIwwCLcBGAs/s1600/CC%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="515" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s4U9KKW2VTs/WywfJEAW83I/AAAAAAAABzI/T193ZEODfvcHIn-DHm0xAWx61LuyfvIwwCLcBGAs/s400/CC%2BSetup%2Bimage.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Then, highlight the continuing care type you want to edit, and select Edit.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v14cUfnX1io/WywfRQ9Ch0I/AAAAAAAABzM/-TDMnGk59YwxEkKhuLTR8WC67eK29faswCLcBGAs/s1600/Edit%2BCC%2BType%2Bimage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="397" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v14cUfnX1io/WywfRQ9Ch0I/AAAAAAAABzM/-TDMnGk59YwxEkKhuLTR8WC67eK29faswCLcBGAs/s400/Edit%2BCC%2BType%2Bimage.PNG" width="365" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In this screen you can adjust the default interval for each continuing care type for the office. Dentrix gives the option to add one day to the frequency. This is a nice feature for when insurance plans will only pay for a prophy every 6 months to the day, for example. By checking the +1 Day option, the patient’s next due date for a prophy be will calculated as 6 months plus one day from the completed date.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I would recommend leaving the Initial Status set to {None} because this is a default that will apply to all patients. If you want to assign a default provider for this continuing care type, you can select Provider 1, Provider 2 or a Specific Provider which you can select from the dropdown list. When you select Provider 1 or Provider 2, the patient’s designated provider from the Family File will be assigned to the continuing care type.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once you have set up the default interval for the continuing care type, select OK, then close the Continuing Care Setup screen. Now each time the continuing care type is used, all your patient’s due dates will follow the default interval you set.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Although the default interval for a PROPHY continuing care type may be 6 months plus one day, some patients may require more frequent visits, for example every 3 or 4 months. You can also customize the frequency of an individual patient’s continuing care.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Open the Dentrix Family File and select the patient who needs a customized interval set for their continuing care. Double click the Continuing Care block.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rM3-UdeCKX0/Wywibv2fZ-I/AAAAAAAABzo/Cezr2uGJumcyRBQE4S7lcNPGfLsg3-PIACLcBGAs/s1600/CC%2BBlock%2Bin%2BFF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="676" height="326" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rM3-UdeCKX0/Wywibv2fZ-I/AAAAAAAABzo/Cezr2uGJumcyRBQE4S7lcNPGfLsg3-PIACLcBGAs/s400/CC%2BBlock%2Bin%2BFF.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Select the continuing care type you want to edit, and click Edit.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KD11IhCfI1E/WywihdUKPsI/AAAAAAAABzs/FiYoqkhVVYMSb7CzoysT8XHoUod0xRvGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Edit%2BIndivudal%2BCC%2BInterval.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="497" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KD11IhCfI1E/WywihdUKPsI/AAAAAAAABzs/FiYoqkhVVYMSb7CzoysT8XHoUod0xRvGQCLcBGAs/s400/Edit%2BIndivudal%2BCC%2BInterval.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Click on the &gt;&gt; next to the Due Date and adjust the patient’s recall frequency as needed, and click OK.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQdQJNsnd1Y/WywipCy0KHI/AAAAAAAABzw/KOdR8jJh3tQ1y6X28EVvlblu8vtZWe3nQCLcBGAs/s1600/Set%2BInterval.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="565" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQdQJNsnd1Y/WywipCy0KHI/AAAAAAAABzw/KOdR8jJh3tQ1y6X28EVvlblu8vtZWe3nQCLcBGAs/s400/Set%2BInterval.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can also assign a continuing care Status for the patient, adjust the appointment time and assign a Provider for this continuing care type for this patient. You also have an option to write a Motivational Note which will print on the patient’s continuing care cards. Once you have customized the Continuing Care Type for a specific patient, select OK, then close the patient’s Continuing Care Setup window.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once you have adjusted the continuing care type interval for the patient, when this continuing care type procedure is set complete from the Appointment Book, Dentrix will prompt you to schedule the next appointment based on the frequency interval you assigned. Also, the patient’s due date will be updated in the Family File according to the selected frequency interval.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now that you know how to assign a continuing care type to a procedure code and how to set frequency intervals as default both for the office and for individual patients, your continuing care system can function properly.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">However, you may have unused continuing care types that need to be cleaned up. Join me next week and we will discuss cleaning up continuing care types. If you have questions or comments on Dentrix Continuing Care, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br /></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124063634569651191.post-73886226937998899322018-06-20T06:30:00.000-07:002018-06-20T07:29:13.911-07:00Dentrix Continuing Care, Part 1 of 3<span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">An effective recall system is an important part of any dental practice. It is the key to a successful hygiene department. Although many offices try to pre-appoint patients before they leave the office, there are usually patients who don’t schedule or who cancel their appointments. It is crucial to have a good tracking system for patients so that you can follow up.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Dentrix Continuing Care is designed to do just that. It tracks when a patient last had a continuing care procedure, like a prophy or x-rays, and when they are due next. If it is set up correctly, Dentrix will prompt you to schedule the patient’s next appointment and patients will show up on continuing care lists which you can use to find patients without a scheduled appointment. I have found some offices don’t know how to properly set up continuing care initially so that Dentrix does the work for you.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">A continuing care type is a term used to describe specific procedures that are completed on a recurring schedule for the patient. For example, a continuing care type named PROPHY could consist of a cleaning and an exam every six months. A continuing care type is tied to a procedure code. When you set that procedure code complete from the Appointment Book, Dentrix will ask you if you want to create a new continuing care appointment. You can use this feature to schedule the patient’s next appointment. If the procedure code is not set up correctly with the continuing care attached, Dentrix can’t function as designed.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">To check which continuing care type a procedure code is attached to, open the Dentrix Office Manager. Click Maintenance &gt; Practice Setup &gt; Procedure Code Setup. Find the procedure code and click Edit. Highlight the Continuing Care Type you want to assign to this procedure code then click Select. Save the changes you made in the Procedure Code Setup and Close.</span><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lXwjNhfitAc/WyQPRnKBlDI/AAAAAAAAByk/Zfplw05TK2MjnCHLNQYWq7r91ybcmpZJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Procedure%2BCode%2BSetup%2BCC.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="819" height="227" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lXwjNhfitAc/WyQPRnKBlDI/AAAAAAAAByk/Zfplw05TK2MjnCHLNQYWq7r91ybcmpZJwCLcBGAs/s400/Procedure%2BCode%2BSetup%2BCC.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">It is important to note that a procedure code can only be attached to one continuing care type.&nbsp; For example, the code D1110 (Adult Prophy) can’t be attached to both the PROPHY and PERIO continuing care types.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">However, a continuing care type can be attached to multiple procedure codes.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jweutg0uk1E/WyQPi056ROI/AAAAAAAABys/4XijcKVh53oUO1LsWugBEkJfw3WD3_cDQCLcBGAs/s1600/Continuing%2BCare%2BType%2B-%2BProcedure%2BCodes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="783" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jweutg0uk1E/WyQPi056ROI/AAAAAAAABys/4XijcKVh53oUO1LsWugBEkJfw3WD3_cDQCLcBGAs/s200/Continuing%2BCare%2BType%2B-%2BProcedure%2BCodes.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">For example, if you attached procedure code D1110 to the continuing care type PROPHY, you can also have procedure code D1120, a Child Prophy, attached to the same PROPHY continuing care type.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Once these procedure codes are attached to the PROPHY continuing care type, any time a patient has D1110 or D1120 set complete from the Appointment Book, Dentrix will prompt you to schedule their next appointment for those procedures and the Dentrix Continuing Care system will calculate their next due date according to the interval you’ve set up for that patient and that continuing care type.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Join me next week and we will talk about how to customize Dentrix Continuing Care intervals on an individual patient basis. As always, feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com">vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xpjmNH_d1vU/Wt4N-egqtsI/AAAAAAAABqY/e2lNYq4uti4xV-ka6MrmhcV1RS5V_qUrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Charlotte%2BSkaggs%2Bcolor%2Bprint%2BResize%2B2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlotte Skaggs, </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Certified Dentrix Trainer</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot;; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for almost 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at <a href="mailto:vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com"> vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.</a></span></span></div><br /><br /></div>The Dentrix Office Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12155461675835676966noreply@blogger.com0